MPs have rejected a Lords amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that would allow a social media ban for under 16s. Instead, they have voted to give ministers much broader powers which could be used to restrict Internet access to under 18s.

This will give ministers huge powers to restrict the Internet without having to pass new legislation. The powers could be used to restrict access to websites, social media platforms, apps and games of their choosing. Ministers will not have to demonstrate harm to children, effectively ripping up work carried out by Ofcom to assess services according to the risks and harms they pose.

This mean that the current or future governments could restrict content they are ideologically opposed to. For example, a Reform government could force ID checks to access LGBQT content as part of their manifesto commitment “to end trans ideology” in schools.

Ministers would also have the powers to impose digital curfews and to limit the time spent on certain platforms – for example preventing under 18s from playing games such as Minecraft, Fifa and Fortnite after a certain time.

MPs also rejected a Lords amendment to restrict access to VPNs, but gave Ministers the power to introduce such a measure.

James Baker, Platform Power Programme Manager at Open Rights Group said:

“This broad amendment takes power away from parliament and Ofcom and hands it to ministers. Any future Government will not only be able to ban children from social media but any other website or online services of their choosing.

“The consequence of this would be every adult having to provide their personal data, or use their body and biometric features as a key to unlock the internet”.

“These proposals fail to address the structural problems that cause online harms, such as surveillance-driven advertising models and the dominance of a small number of Big Tech platforms.”

The age assurance industry is not regulated

The new amendment is a blow for the privacy of adult Internet users who could be forced to undergo ID checks if they want full access to the Internet and to use privacy tools such as VPNs. This new amendment would mean that most adults in the UK would be compelled to undertake ID checks and hand over personal and sensitive data to third party age verification providers. But this ever-expanding industry is unregulated.

Open Rights Group has written to the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Liz Kendall MP calling for the regulation of age assurance providers operating under the Online Safety Act. The letter was also signed by Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA) and over 600 members of the public. 

ORG is asking the Government, ICO, and Ofcom to establish compulsory privacy and security standards for age verification providers to ensure that users’ sensitive data is protected.

Security and privacy experts call for moratorium on age assurance

Over 400 security and privacy academics have called for all for a moratorium on the deployment of age assurance for the prevention of online harms “until the scientific consensus settles on the benefits and harms that age-assurance technologies can bring, and on the technical feasibility of such a deployment”. Read their letter here.