VPN age verification
Southport Inquiry · The Southport Inquiry Report: Phase 1 · Issued 13 April 2026 · Addressed to: Southport Inquiry Phase 2
Government responseNot for the government: for Phase 2 of the Inquiry
DeliveryFor Phase 2 of the Inquiry to consider
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
Phase 2 should consider age verification for the use of Virtual Private Network (VPN) software and other options to avoid VPNs being used to circumvent the age-related protections in the Online Safety Act 2023.
Southport Inquiry, The Southport Inquiry Report: Phase 1 · 13 Apr 2026 Source PDF →
Government response
This recommendation is for Phase 2 of the Inquiry to consider, so no government response to it is expected.
Delivery
This recommendation is for Phase 2 of the Inquiry to consider. It is not addressed to the government or another body, so there is no delivery to report.
How this page is built
The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.