# UK regulator Ofcom: VPN use by children could be monitored under planned under-16 social media ban

*Regulation · 1 Nov 2026*

Ofcom, the UK's media regulator, published an assessment on Thursday 29 October 2026 of age-verification methods that could underpin the UK government's planned social media ban for under-16s. The regulator names four "highly effective" methods: matching official ID against a live selfie, a bank verifying the account holder's age, an official digital ID service, and age estimation from a selfie.

For VPN users, the relevant part is circumvention. Ofcom states that "no age assurance method is completely robust against circumvention by children". It says some circumvention is "inevitable" and that it "will monitor circumvention by children and publish research on this within 12 months of the ban coming into effect". Concerns that children could use virtual private networks, which hide a user's location, to bypass UK restrictions are part of the debate.

A VPN provider does not have to do anything under this assessment. The assessment is a proposal to inform parliamentary debate; the ban and its enforcement rules are not yet in force. Our listed VPNs are not named in the report.

Sources: [Birmingham Live / Birmingham Mail, 29 Oct 2026](https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/uk-vpn-crackdown-update-could-34835057). The Ofcom publication itself ("Rapid assessment of highly effective age assurance at 16") could not be opened by our fetcher; the quotes above are from the Birmingham Mail report.

## Sources

- [UK VPN crackdown update as some could face usage being 'monitored' (Birmingham Live, 29 Oct 2026)](https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/uk-vpn-crackdown-update-could-34835057)

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Please cite: Source: cryptovpnss.com (cryptovss), as of 1 Nov 2026, https://cryptovpnss.com/en/news/ofcom-age-checks-vpn-circumvention-uk-under-16-ban/