title: Banning children from VPNs and social media will erode adults' privacy
author: u/Haunterblademoi
contenttype: redditpost
publication: r/technology
published: 2026-02-27T15:37:42+00:00
sourceurl: https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1rg9y6q/banningchildrenfromvpnsandsocialmediawill/
word_count: 527
Link: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2516996-banning-children-from-vpns-and-social-media-will-erode-adults-privacy/
Score: 1749 | Comments: 230 | Subreddit: r/technology
Top Comments
u/aleopardstail (727 pts):
this is a feature, not a bug, eroding privacy is the entire purpose
removing the ability for anonymous whistle blowing for example
u/rnilf (303 pts):
The US Congress’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform recently demanded details of Wikipedia users who edited an article on the Israel-Palestine conflict, for instance.
This is an aside from the main topic of the article, but WHAT THE FUCK?
u/klako8196 (81 pts):
That's the entire point. It's all about invading the privacy of adults under the guise of protecting children.
u/Flabbergasted98 (17 pts):
"Protecting children" is the propaganda. it's the cover story.
The end goal is to build a surveilance network that can be used to initiate voter supression and identify isolate and intimidate political resistance. They're building remote controlled fascism.
u/NarrowExample3370 (137 pts):
If only parents would just f’ing parent.
I say this as a parent, btw. One who parents.
u/phuckin-psycho (13 pts):
That's the point of the protect the children agenda, they don't want people to have privacy
u/popshamhocks (23 pts):
Like this government cares about your kids. They're literally caping for pedophiles
u/someoldguyon_reddit (8 pts):
That's why they are doing it.
u/Basic-Yesterday-5641 (15 pts):
That’s the point.
u/Aimela (8 pts):
That's what it's all about. It was never about the children, just surveillance.
u/Ok-Replacement9595 (14 pts):
That's the point.
u/draeth1013 (5 pts):
If they truly cared about the safety of children, the riling class wouldn't be a bunch of pedos.
u/Its-A-Laser-Disc (5 pts):
that’s the point. a moral panic always precedes an erosion in rights.
“protect children” is an authortarian trojan horse.
u/AspiringPirate64 (10 pts):
Parent. Your. Fucking. Children.
u/Richmond43 (21 pts):
This is the correct analysis. I work in government affairs, and these bills don't *merely* limit children's access to tools. They either limit adults' access or force adults to pay more money for tools to preserve our privacy online.
It's genuinely well-intended by these state legislators - it's mostly because they don't understand. But even when it's explained to them, their constituents still want these bills because they are both uninformed and/or insufficiently intelligent to understand the consequences.
So goddamned frustrating.
u/nmay-dev (15 pts):
It also erodes the kids privacy. They will almost all be adults one day too.
u/Patara (5 pts):
It was never about the children. If it was, the cabal of pedophiles running the entire planet would be in the hague.
u/[deleted] (5 pts):
It’s forcing people to submit and get used to it. Then it escalates very quickly and nobody aside from the wealthy have privacy anymore.
It’s a scam.
u/Many-Waters (8 pts):
"P-p-protect the children!!" Is a smokescreen just like "THIS IS TO FIGHT TERRORISM!!"
u/NeverrSummer (12 pts):
It's also just fucked to act like children don't deserve agency or any rights in general, adults aside. A 12 year old isn't a toddler they deserve some rights. I dislike the infantalization of middle school age children as much as I dislike the adult privacy violation.
I swear it's like no one remembers seventh grade. I had opinions in seventh grade. I was capable of making responsible choices about the media and websites I chose to use... 13 isn't 3.
u/kp33ze (6 pts):
PARENTS NEED TO FUCKING PARENT.