I think the possible age restriction on VPN use will be problematic in many ways. The direction of travel here is a worry even though I agree that children need some protections from social media use. The site ISP Preview [0] has an article about this as well :

'The UK Prime Minister, Kier Starmer, has today proposed last minute amendments to two Bills that will enable the Government to set a minimum age limit for social media (i.e. greater use of Age Verification), as well as options to age restrict or limit children’s use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN), where it “undermines safety protections and changing the age of digital consent".'

[0] https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2026/02/government-set...

The quicker this ridiculous government is out the better!