BREAKING: Tech and Rights Groups Urge UK to Rethink Online Harm Strategy
A coalition of 19 organizations—including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Mozilla, the Tor Project, and Open Rights Group—has sent an urgent letter to UK policymakers, demanding they address the root causes of online harm instead of imposing sweeping age-gating restrictions that threaten the open internet.
The groups warn that measures proposed under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill risk forcing all users, not just minors, to verify their identity through flawed age assurance technologies, leading to mass surveillance and loss of anonymity.
“These sweeping age-gating requirements would force every user—from teenagers to seniors—to hand over personal data just to read a blog or use a VPN,” said Eva Blum-Dumontet, senior policy analyst at EFF. “It’s a blunt instrument that will fracture the web and empower tech gatekeepers, without making children safer.”
Background: The Age-Gating Push
The UK government’s post-Bill proposals include mandatory age checks on social media, video games, VPNs, and even basic websites. The coalition argues that age assurance technologies are either inaccurate—failing to protect children—or deeply privacy-invasive, often requiring government ID or biometric data.
“Mandating such systems across a wide range of services creates serious risks: expanded surveillance, data breaches, and the erosion of anonymity,” the letter states. The groups highlight that these policies would effectively treat everyone as a suspect until proven otherwise.
Beyond privacy, the signatories fear the proposals would fragment the internet into a patchwork of jurisdiction-specific walls, limiting access to information and entrenching dominant platforms like app stores and cloud ecosystems.
What This Means for the Open Web
The coalition warns that if implemented, these rules could fundamentally reshape the internet’s core architecture—damaging interoperability, accessibility, and openness. “We risk losing the very qualities that made the web a global public resource,” said Alex Daley of the Open Rights Group.
The letter also calls out what’s missing from the current approach: holding platforms accountable for the business models and design choices that drive online harm—such as pervasive data collection and engagement-maximizing algorithms.
“Instead of blocking access, policymakers should force companies to prioritize user rights by design,” the groups argue. “Protecting young people online requires tackling the profit-driven systems that fuel abuse, not building a surveillance infrastructure.”
Critical Voices and Next Steps
The internet remains a vital space for young people, offering support networks, information, and expression not available offline. The coalition stresses that overly restrictive policies could cut off these lifelines without meaningfully reducing harm.
UK lawmakers are expected to review the letter during upcoming parliamentary debates on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. The coalition has called for an immediate shift toward evidence-based, rights-respecting measures—such as stronger data protection rules and algorithmic accountability.
“This is a defining moment for the future of the internet in the UK,” said Mozilla’s senior public policy manager, Lina S. Andrade. “We urge policymakers to choose a path that protects users without destroying the open web we all depend on.”
For further analysis, see our section on background and what this means.