If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. If you wanted a case study in how modern democracies widen state oversight step by step, Britain has offered a clear example. On March 9, two major surveillance-related bills advanced through Parliament, each pointing toward broader government authority, reduced personal privacy, and tighter limits on protest activity. These measures advanced through procedural votes and technical amendments that sounded administrative, yet carry consequences for how millions of people use the internet and exercise civic rights. The main legislative action unfolded in the House of Commons during debate on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. Members of Parliament actually rejected amendments from the House of Lords that would have required age verification for VPNs and certain user-to-user services. But don’t get too excited. Replacement amendments approved by MPs would grant significant new authority to the state. The powers allow the government to require internet service providers to block or restrict children’s access to specific online platforms, impose time-of-day limits on when services can be used, and mandate age verification across nearly any platform that enables users to post or share content. Because the legal definition of user-to-user services includes social media platforms, messaging applications, online forums, and gaming networks, the scope of these rules extends across much of the modern internet. This is as bad as it gets. The practical challenges are considerable and the privacy issues are even worse. Internet service providers supply connections to households rather than individuals. Enforcing child-specific restrictions would require identifying which devices belong to minors through ID verification and applying controls selectively, a level of precision that home broadband systems were never designed to provide. Enforcement may therefore produce household-wide restrictions or increased pressure on platforms to verify the age of all users. The amendments now return to the House of Lords. Approval there would send the bill to Royal Assent. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post UK Parliament Plans ISP Blocking and Age Verification Powers appeared first on Reclaim The Net.