DON’T ID THE INTERNET

The Issue

The open internet has been one of the greatest forces for freedom and human progress in modern history.

It has given ordinary people the power to learn, create, organise, challenge authority, campaign for change, and share ideas without needing permission from governments or corporations.

That freedom is now under threat.

The Government says its new proposals are about “protecting children online.”

But the reality is much broader.

These sweeping measures would affect everyone through age verification systems that increasingly operate as identity checks, device-level monitoring, and the progressive removal of anonymity online.

A “social media ban for children” will ultimately mean ID checks for all of us before we can speak online.

Parents already have tools to protect their children. Children do not buy smartphones for themselves. Adults choose to provide devices and decide how they are used.

If a parent wants parental controls, they can enable them today.

Children need guidance, care, and sensible boundaries – not an internet redesigned around the assumption that every user must be a potential threat.

There is nothing safe about a society where ordinary people must be identified, monitored, and recorded simply to participate.

People do not value privacy because they have something to hide.

They value it for the same reason they close their curtains, lock their front doors, seal their ballots, and expect private conversations to remain private.

Privacy is not suspicious.

It is a normal condition of a free society.

Nor is anonymity a loophole for wrongdoing.

It protects ordinary people every day – including abuse survivors, whistleblowers, political dissidents, journalists, and anyone seeking help, exploring ideas, or speaking out without fear of retaliation.

Recent years have shown how quickly digital identity systems can expand beyond their original purpose. During Covid, digital passes demonstrated how app-based credentials could become gateways to everyday activities and public life.

No government should have the power to make participation in society conditional on digital identification.

Not this government.

Not the next one.

We call on the UK Government to reject:

• Digital ID requirements for access to online services
• Age verification systems that function as identity checks
• Device-level surveillance built into everyday internet use

Don’t ID the Internet

Protect parental choice.

Protect privacy.

Protect anonymity.

Protect the right to participate online without having to “prove who you are.”