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This title seems misleading. The EP paper appears to be highlighting the existence of a debate regarding VPN. Relevant quote: "Some argue that this is a loop

This title seems misleading. The EP paper appears to be highlighting the existence of a debate regarding VPN. Relevant quote: "Some argue that this is a loophole in the legislation that needs closing and call for age verification to be required for VPNs as well. In response, some VPN providers argue that they do not share information with third parties and state that their services are not intended for use by children in the first place. The Children's Commissioner for England has called for VPNs to be restricted to adult use only. While privacy advocates argue that imposing age-verification requirements on VPNs would pose significant risk to anonymity and date protection, child-safety campaigners claim that their widespread use by minors requires a regulatory response. Pornhub and other large pornography platforms have reportedly lost web traffic following the enforcement of age-verification rules in the UK, while VPN apps have reached the top of download rankings." Of course I'm not saying the EU won't regulate VPNs, but nowhere in this paper is "the EU" stating that VPNs need closing.

karmakurtisaani 5mo ago
This needs a new "law of headlines": whenever it's the EU saying something, it's never the EU that said that.
- dinfinity 5mo ago
  Even the, it's incredibly vague at best, equivalent to "The USA said that", which only makes sense in a context where the relevant spokespeople are well-defined (such as a UN assembly or something), but who is the general spokesperson for the USA or the EU? Usually things like these are qualified like "the Department of Defense of the USA stated X".
rufasterisco 5mo ago
The title is also the exact title for that paper’s chapter. You are right at pointing out that the paper is overall presenting the subject in a balanced manner, unfortunately it seems a bad choice was made when it came to that specific sentence, that gives a venue for it to be fed in the outrage machine. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2026/782618/EPRS_ATA(2026)782618_EN.pdf https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2026/7826...
- deleted 5mo ago
  [deleted]
- ChrisSD 5mo ago
  In that specific sentence the source is cited (via hyperlink). So even if you read it out of all context you can still find out the source is UK's Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza who said it, not "the EU" (whatever that means). For this "story" to gain legs, someone must have pulled that sentence out of content without mentioning the source and then added some misleading context for the outrage.
  - rufasterisco 5mo ago
    It has been chosen as a chapter title. In my view, it lends more authority to that statement over the other citations in that chapter. I am inclined to take this as a honest editorial mistake: adding a ? at the end would have been the right choice. I might be a bit lost on what you/we mean by context. For me, it’s the original pdf from the EU, no quotes. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2026/782618/EPRS_ATA(2026)782618_EN.pdf https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2026/7826...
oytis 5mo ago
These dimwits (and I don't just mean those in EU) seriously want to stop adolescents from watching porn, and are ready to mess with internet infrastructure for that. That's a depressing manifestation of aging society
- jasonvorhe 5mo ago
  You don't really believe this is about porn?
- eowln 5mo ago
  Practically all the ills we suffer currently are depressing manifestations of an aging society. That, and the lack of real issues to solve.
  - AlecSchueler 5mo ago
    If only we were all privileged enough to believe that the problems in the world today weren't real.
    - eowln 5mo ago
      I was talking about the first world. And yes, I think most if not all of the problems in the first world are gratuitously self-inflicted.
      - GlacierFox 5mo ago
        Where is the cushy insulated bubble you're living? Can I join?
      - AlecSchueler 5mo ago
        Even if that were true (it isn't) you would want to consider the systemic issues that background self-sabotage.
    - wolvoleo 5mo ago
      There are real problems and they are huge but the solutions to them are very unpopular. So that's why political parties resort to this kind of distraction politics. Blaming immigrants, LGBT people etc. Or simply causing other problems by bombing random countries for no reason. Because nobody wants to limit the big corporations polluting the world and exploiting the population, tackle climate change with more than some hollow measures. Because people will be annoyed when it affects them and that means political suicide. So they manufacture other problems, ones they can control and point the blame to groups that have little voting power.
shevy-java 5mo ago
But you single out just one paper. If you include all paper and discussions the picture is super-clear, and the title is not misleading at all. This has to be said. > Of course I'm not saying the EU won't regulate VPNs The word choice is quite revealing. You write "regulate VPNs". To me this is not "regulation" at all - it is restriction or factually forbidding it. It is newspeak language here if we dampen it via nicer-sounding words. It also distracts from the main question: why the sudden attack by EU lobbyists against VPNs?
- qnpnpmqppnp 5mo ago
  This is the only paper that is presented as a source for this statement. I'm not the one singling it out.
- rounce 5mo ago
  > why the sudden attack by EU lobbyists against VPNs? Live sports, they’re already assaulting internet infrastructure in various EU member states (eg. La Liga forcing Spanish ISPs to block cloudflare IPs during matches). With this in mind it seems less a case of surveillance state and more a case of corporate state capture.
  - petre 5mo ago
    If someone wants a guaranteed riot in a Latin country, they just need to somehow mess around with football.
sexylinux 5mo ago
Showing children naked humans is a horrible crime. Bombing children is OK and we happily produce and deliver all the weapons needed for that. Patterns of an ill society.
inglor_cz 5mo ago
This is how waters are tested and potential negative reactions are probed.
MandieD 5mo ago
"Children's Commissioner for England"... that's not the EU. Really not the EU - they had a whole election and years-long process to leave the EU.
- graemep 5mo ago
  The point is that does not stop the EU from quoting the Children's Commissioner for England on the first page of this document: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2026/782618/EPRS_ATA(2026)782618_EN.pdf https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2026/7826...

karmakurtisaani 5mo ago

This needs a new "law of headlines": whenever it's the EU saying something, it's never the EU that said that.

dinfinity 5mo ago
Even the, it's incredibly vague at best, equivalent to "The USA said that", which only makes sense in a context where the relevant spokespeople are well-defined (such as a UN assembly or something), but who is the general spokesperson for the USA or the EU? Usually things like these are qualified like "the Department of Defense of the USA stated X".

rufasterisco 5mo ago

The title is also the exact title for that paper’s chapter. You are right at pointing out that the paper is overall presenting the subject in a balanced manner, unfortunately it seems a bad choice was made when it came to that specific sentence, that gives a venue for it to be fed in the outrage machine. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2026/782618/EPRS_ATA(2026)782618_EN.pdf https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2026/7826...

deleted 5mo ago
[deleted]
ChrisSD 5mo ago
In that specific sentence the source is cited (via hyperlink). So even if you read it out of all context you can still find out the source is UK's Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza who said it, not "the EU" (whatever that means). For this "story" to gain legs, someone must have pulled that sentence out of content without mentioning the source and then added some misleading context for the outrage.
- rufasterisco 5mo ago
  It has been chosen as a chapter title. In my view, it lends more authority to that statement over the other citations in that chapter. I am inclined to take this as a honest editorial mistake: adding a ? at the end would have been the right choice. I might be a bit lost on what you/we mean by context. For me, it’s the original pdf from the EU, no quotes. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2026/782618/EPRS_ATA(2026)782618_EN.pdf https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2026/7826...

oytis 5mo ago

These dimwits (and I don't just mean those in EU) seriously want to stop adolescents from watching porn, and are ready to mess with internet infrastructure for that. That's a depressing manifestation of aging society

jasonvorhe 5mo ago
You don't really believe this is about porn?
eowln 5mo ago
Practically all the ills we suffer currently are depressing manifestations of an aging society. That, and the lack of real issues to solve.
- AlecSchueler 5mo ago
  If only we were all privileged enough to believe that the problems in the world today weren't real.
  - eowln 5mo ago
    I was talking about the first world. And yes, I think most if not all of the problems in the first world are gratuitously self-inflicted.
    - GlacierFox 5mo ago
      Where is the cushy insulated bubble you're living? Can I join?
    - AlecSchueler 5mo ago
      Even if that were true (it isn't) you would want to consider the systemic issues that background self-sabotage.
  - wolvoleo 5mo ago
    There are real problems and they are huge but the solutions to them are very unpopular. So that's why political parties resort to this kind of distraction politics. Blaming immigrants, LGBT people etc. Or simply causing other problems by bombing random countries for no reason. Because nobody wants to limit the big corporations polluting the world and exploiting the population, tackle climate change with more than some hollow measures. Because people will be annoyed when it affects them and that means political suicide. So they manufacture other problems, ones they can control and point the blame to groups that have little voting power.

shevy-java 5mo ago

But you single out just one paper. If you include all paper and discussions the picture is super-clear, and the title is not misleading at all. This has to be said. > Of course I'm not saying the EU won't regulate VPNs The word choice is quite revealing. You write "regulate VPNs". To me this is not "regulation" at all - it is restriction or factually forbidding it. It is newspeak language here if we dampen it via nicer-sounding words. It also distracts from the main question: why the sudden attack by EU lobbyists against VPNs?

qnpnpmqppnp 5mo ago
This is the only paper that is presented as a source for this statement. I'm not the one singling it out.
rounce 5mo ago
> why the sudden attack by EU lobbyists against VPNs? Live sports, they’re already assaulting internet infrastructure in various EU member states (eg. La Liga forcing Spanish ISPs to block cloudflare IPs during matches). With this in mind it seems less a case of surveillance state and more a case of corporate state capture.
- petre 5mo ago
  If someone wants a guaranteed riot in a Latin country, they just need to somehow mess around with football.

sexylinux 5mo ago

Showing children naked humans is a horrible crime. Bombing children is OK and we happily produce and deliver all the weapons needed for that. Patterns of an ill society.

inglor_cz 5mo ago

This is how waters are tested and potential negative reactions are probed.

MandieD 5mo ago

"Children's Commissioner for England"... that's not the EU. Really not the EU - they had a whole election and years-long process to leave the EU.

graemep 5mo ago
The point is that does not stop the EU from quoting the Children's Commissioner for England on the first page of this document: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2026/782618/EPRS_ATA(2026)782618_EN.pdf https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2026/7826...