UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16 • Hacker News Board

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#81

Post by cj » Thu, Dec 11, 2025, 10:37 PM UTC

piker wrote: post #60

iamacyborg wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Keep in mind the UK already arrests and imprisons vast numbers of people for speech offences I think you’ve been spending too much time on Twitter

> While figures show that the total number of arrests for online posts fell to 9,700 last year, down from a record 13,800 in 2023... https://freespeechunion.org/daily-mail-investigation-exposes...

I thought Daily Mail was close to tabloid status (or a bit above). Aren’t they banned from being a citation on Wikipedia?

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#82

Post by nisten » Thu, Dec 11, 2025, 10:38 PM UTC

As someone fully supportive of the social media ban for Australian kids, I think As someone fully supportive of the social media ban for Australian kids, I think we need to teach UK kids to vibecode their own VPNs with OSS models at this point so they can save what's left of their future civil liberties.

We all know where this is going, they're going to ban the one mathematical tool we have that gives us control over machines, encryption.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#83

Post by junon » Thu, Dec 11, 2025, 10:38 PM UTC

OJFord wrote: post #78

stickfigure wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not reassuring in the slightest.

Not in the slightest?

No.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#84

Post by StanislavPetrov » Thu, Dec 11, 2025, 10:39 PM UTC

kylecazar wrote: post #23

Isn't everyone under the age of 16 using a VPN doing so through their parent's billing?

There are many free VPNs.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#85

Post by stronglikedan » Thu, Dec 11, 2025, 10:39 PM UTC

g947o wrote: post #15

richwater wrote: post #2

EU countries seem to be obsessed with infringing upon their citizens privacy

Good news, potentially coming to US soon as well: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/lawmakers-want-ban-vpn...

As soon as one country gets away with it, most will follow suit.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#86

Post by fredoralive » Thu, Dec 11, 2025, 10:39 PM UTC

azalemeth wrote: post #33

This is a clearly terrible idea. It's clear to us, at least, not to them. As is on the public record, there are three proponents behind this amendment. They and their contact details are: LORD NASH [Tory, contactholmember@parliament.uk] BARONESS CASS [Crossbench / 'independent', rivisn@parliament.uk ("staff")] BARONESS BENJAMIN [Liberal Democrat - which particularly disappoints me – benjaminf@parliament.uk] All three…

> Liberal Democrat - which particularly disappoints me

don't you remember 2010?

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#87

Post by goalieca » Thu, Dec 11, 2025, 10:39 PM UTC

iamacyborg wrote: post #45

baazaa wrote: post #36

On a related note, they built their digital ID so that third parties could verify attributes (it's NOT just a single-service login across government + a linking ID across government services, which is how it was sold by the BBC). They're pretty close to completely de-anonymising the internet for UK citizens. Say they introduce an Australian-style social media ban for under 16s, then requires all social media to link…

> Keep in mind the UK already arrests and imprisons vast numbers of people for speech offences I think you’ve been spending too much time on Twitter

The simple threat of arrest, even if they only happen by the hundreds, is enough to have a chilling effect on free speech.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#88

Post by lijok » Thu, Dec 11, 2025, 10:40 PM UTC

impure-aqua wrote: post #16

Requiring me to upload my ID to invoke ssh with the -D flag should certainly be a top legislative priority of the United Kingdom

Pretty sure you can install kali and have a hundred flags that have been legislated against in most countries, out of the box. Not a great argument.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#89

Post by bilekas » Thu, Dec 11, 2025, 10:40 PM UTC

On what possible grounds can they enforce this? Please someone tell me when the line is crossed.

Re: UK House of Lords attempting to ban use of VPNs by anyone under 16

#90

Post by andyjohnson0 » Thu, Dec 11, 2025, 10:40 PM UTC

TSiege wrote: post #53

ascorbic wrote: post #22

This is one of dozens of amendments proposed by members, so it's more accurate to say "three members of the House of Lords attempting to ban the use of VPNs".

I'm not from the UK but I thought the house of lords is largely a vestigial legislative body and has no serious power. Am I wrong there?

Brit here. The HoL's role is to review and scrutinise legislation as part of the parliamentary process of turning bills into acts (laws). Most legislation originates in the (directly elected) House of Commons. But all parliamentary bills pass through the Lords, and they can propose ammendments, but those ammendments have to be approved by the Commons. Those that aren't are sent back to the Lords for reconsideration. In the event of deadlock, the Commons has primacy and can overrule the Lords.