Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring social media platforms to (a) implement advanced virtual private network (VPN) detection technology to identify users accessing platforms through VPNs and (b) block VPN users' access, in the context of the risk of anonymous (i) exploitation and (ii) grooming of children online.

The Online Safety Act will place strict ‘illegal content’ duties on online platforms to protect children from being groomed by online predators, and to tackle child sexual exploitation and abuse content on their services.

Ofcom sets out steps providers can take for these duties in draft codes of practice. It can assess the merits of any proposed measures for its codes, including those that relate to VPNs. The first codes for the ‘illegal content duties’ came into force in March 2025 and Ofcom has said it will develop these iteratively.