Kit Knightly – Off-Guardian Oct 30, 2026
The UK’s much-anticipated “social media ban” isn’t even actually law yet, and it’s already proving itself an obvious front for pushing digital ID on the whole country.
The so-called “social media ban for under-16s” – more accurately an “online anonymity ban” for everyone – is due to come into force in March 2027, and the build up to that happy day has already seen regulators clamouring for stricter measures.
OfCom – the body empowered to enforce the ban, and other dystopian internet controls in the UK – has issued a warning that facial scans, put forward as one way over 16s can prove they should be allowed to use social media, are not accurate enough.
According to the wannabe tyrants – sorry, “regulatory agency” – results from Australia’s social media ban show that kids are getting around the new law too easily, and that’s because the facial scans can make mistakes, and even be fooled by relatively simple tricks.
What does this mean?
Well, it means we’re going to need to use identification documents instead, obviously.
As the Telegraph puts it:
Everyone over 16 may need ID to use social media, Ofcom says
Get used to playing “Ofcom says”, because it’s very much going to be the national hobby from 2027 onwards. Like “Simon says”, only there’s no prize for the winner and hefty fines or prison time for the losers.
This has been the predictable play since the ban was announced, made doubly obvious by the suspect enthusiasm with which the press reported the alleged permeability of Australia’s ban.
The only reason the press ever has to report authoritarian isn’t working, is justifying stricter authoritarianism.
And, just in case you can’t see the digital ID train barrelling down the tracks towards us, Ofcom had this to say as well [emphasis added]:
[OfCom said] digital ID services enabled people to digitally prove who they were or information about themselves, such as their age […] they could use a photo ID to verify their age with a digital ID service once, then use the digital ID services thereafter, reducing the need to access their photo ID repeatedly.
Golly, doesn’t that sound convenient?
It’s not even slightly hard to see where this is going.
- Facial scans are too easy to fool, we have to scan our passports or drivers’ licenses instead.
- Scanning your physical ID every time you want to sign up to a digital service takes too long, maybe we should have an app instead.
- Signing in to different platforms with different passwords is so confusing, why not use the ID app to log in to everything?
- To save time, you can use it to store your tax information, employment and medical records too.
- Did you know processing digital ID checks are instant, but processing hard-copy ID checks takes 24-48 hours?
- Unfortunately, using an old fashioned paper passport is not as sustainable as the digital ID app, and moving forward its use will incur a £5 carbon off-set fee.
…and there you have it.
Digital ID for all, because it’s cheaper and faster and “Ofcom says”.
And, as ever, this is not just a UK thing. Dozens of countries all over the world are pulling the same manoeuvre with only the tiniest variation in measures or age.
Just this week, Greece joined the procession.
As we observed on Twitter, and have said many times before:
“If all the nations of the world have near-identical laws, how is that functionally different from a global government?”
It’s not.
And when all the countries have their bans, and their ID apps, and all those systems are all “interoperable” to promote “hassle-free travel”, we’ll all know it.
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