Some UK users on r/YouTube report that VPNs are being blocked by the platform

This is clearly a change that appears to coincide with the Online Safety Act [1]. The question for me is - why?

The UK agency Ofcom are in charge of deciding what to censor, and their approach has typically been to remain strategically vague, and cause those acting under it to be overly censorious as not to get fined.

The list of illegal content covered by the Online Safety Act includes:

    child sexual abuse  
    controlling or coercive behaviour  
    extreme sexual violence 
    extreme pornography 
    fraud
    racially or religiously aggravated public order offences  
    inciting violence  
    illegal immigration and people smuggling  
    promoting or facilitating suicide  
    intimate image abuse
    selling illegal drugs or weapons  
    sexual exploitation  
    terrorism 

Particularly egregious within the UK currently is "illegal immigration and people smuggling" as it has been used against multiples groups (including journalists) reporting on illegal crossings into the UK. Discussion of this political topic is being tightly controlled.

It is a VERY hot topic in the UK currently, and an important political discussion is being had by almost everybody about the future of the UK. So far the government's efforts to quash anti-immigration discussions has resulted in multiple grass-roots demonstrations (and counter demonstrations) outside of hotels housing illegal immigrants [2].

If you want a picture of how things are going, you need only need to consider the Meadow Well [3] riots of 1991, England riots of 1981 [4], the Notting Hill riots of 1958 and possibly more aptly, the race riots of 1919 after the war [5]. It's essentially all of the issues these riots focussed on and the government has no plan or ability to meet the demands of the rioters.

All of this to say - expect the Online Safety Act to be used more heavily in the coming months to try and bring the UK back under control.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-safety-act...

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/aug/08/three-thousa...

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meadow_Well_riots

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_England_riots

[5] https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/1919...

Can the uk not be dystopian for like 5 seconds