Censorship & identity checks

The same pretext (“protect minors”) is used to force identity checks to access the internet. It’s the planned end of online anonymity, and therefore a form of censorship. Here’s the state of play, then how to escape it lawfully.

Where we stand (2025-2026)

• France. The SREN law (May 2024) tasks regulator Arcom with age verification; since April 2025, covered sites must implement it. A decree imposing age checks was upheld by the Conseil d’État on 15 July 2025, and a bill banning under-15s from social media passed the Assemblée on 26 January 2026, which means verifying the age, and thus the identity, of everyone.
• UK. Since 25 July 2025, the Online Safety Act requires “highly effective” age verification (ID, credit card, facial estimation). The immediate result: VPN signups jumped over 1,400% within hours. The House of Lords even debated, in early 2026, an age limit on VPN use itself.
• EU. The Commission unveiled an age-verification app (April 2025), piloted in five countries, designed to plug into the European digital identity wallet (EUDI Wallet, eIDAS 2) that every state must offer by end of 2026. EFF and EDRi warn: the “zero-knowledge” proof is only optional, and this builds an online-ID infrastructure far beyond child protection.

Escaping it lawfully

The counter comes down to one idea: take an IP address in a country that doesn’t impose these checks, and obtain the tools anonymously, even if they get blocked one day.

• An offshore VPN. Connect to a server outside the filtering country (ideally outside the EU and the “14 Eyes”), with an audited no-log policy. This restores access to networks demanding an ID.
• Anonymous payment. Pay for the VPN in crypto or cash (Mullvad, IVPN, Proton accept it). Crucial: if VPNs ever get “banned,” payment processors could refuse cards; cash and crypto would be the only options left.
• Tor to fetch a blocked VPN. If the provider’s site becomes unreachable from your country, use the Tor Browser (or a .onion address) to download the client. Once installed, the VPN is far faster for daily use.
• Switch your store country. An Apple/Google account set to another country brings back apps pulled from your local store.