Is Britain banning VPNs next month? No, that's not true: The prime minister of the United Kingdom announced a proposed ban on major social media platforms for children under 16. Keir Starmer made the announcement at a public press conference and did not say the ban included VPNs. One politician said the legislation might regulate VPN use by age, but no ban had been announced as of the publication date.
The claim appeared in a June 17, 2026, post by @ianmiles on X (archived here). It said:
Britain is banning VPNs next month. Not even Russia or China are doing this.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @ianmiles on X.)
Starmer announced the plan to ban social media for children under 16, including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, as the Guardian (archived here) and The New York Times reported (archived here).
A June 15, 2026, press release from Starmer's office (archived here) announced the ban with the title, "Social media to be banned for under-16s in landmark government move to give kids their childhood back," and a subtitle, "Social media platforms to be blocked from offering services to under-16s, marking a line in the sand and setting a new normal for future generations."
The announcement explained the timeline for the ban to go into effect:
Decisive action - backed by 9 in 10 parents - expected to be brought to Parliament before Christmas, with protections expected to come into force in Spring 2027
The announcement did not say VPNs would be banned. It continued:
In a move to protect children online and address the scale of the challenge, the government will also go further than a blanket ban on social media with world-leading blocks on harmful functions such as livestreaming and stranger communication with children for under-16s. These restrictions -- which together with the ban go further than any other country -- will apply to a wider range of online services, including on gaming sites.
Restrictions on these functionalities will also be on by default for 16- and 17-year-olds to prevent a cliff-edge at 16. The government will also be looking in more detail at overnight curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling for under-18-year-olds and will set out more detail in July.
There was no mention of banning VPNs in the announcement.
According to the BBC (archived here), the government "has not revealed any plans to regulate" VPNs, but details will be released in July:
The government has not revealed any plans to regulate them, but ministers have said details about action alongside the social media ban, including regarding VPN use, will come in July.
Children's minister Josh MacAlister told the BBC there were 'options there about whether we could age-gate VPN use, which would be really welcome'.
