Stop Killing Games spawns sister campaign against UK Internet ban
Key Points
- What it is: a new international campaign defending the open internet against online safety measures
- Who launched it: the team behind Stop Killing Games
- What it opposes: the UK's under-16 social media ban, age verification and device scanning
- Launch date: full public launch on 27 June 2026
- Related petition: around 192,000 signatures against the UK ban
The group behind Stop Killing Games has launched a sister campaign opposing the UK government’s planned social media ban for children under 16.
The new international campaign, Stop Killing the Internet, aims to defend the open internet against measures it says “impose surveillance, exclusion and excessive centralised control” in the name of online safety.
It follows the UK government’s confirmation that it intends to introduce a ban on under-16s accessing ten popular platforms, alongside other measures including device scanning. The full public launch is set for 27 June 2026, though sign-ups are open now.
The campaign backs what it calls “rights-respecting approaches to child protection, privacy, democratic accountability and platform responsibility,” while opposing stricter solutions such as social media bans, device scanning and additional surveillance.
Its backers include the Open Rights Group, Index on Censorship, NO2ID, Big Brother Watch, Defend Digital Me, Progressive Voice, RWS and Stop Killing Games.
Moritz Katzner, Director of Stop Killing Games, framed the internet as shared public infrastructure.
“The internet is a place of education, games, friendship, culture, work and public debate. Like any town hall, it can become ugly. But we would never respond by shutting down the town hall. We would never demand identity papers at the door,” Katzner said.
He added that the group is building a global movement and called on people who believe in a connected internet to join.
The campaign’s announcement said there was widespread feeling that a global threat required a global response, and that the UK’s plans for prohibition and device scanning required an immediate response.
It highlighted concerns that the measures would make it harder for young people to access educational videos, connect with friends or socialise while gaming.
The launch coincides with a parliamentary petition opposing the ban, which has passed the 100,000-signature threshold required to trigger a debate in parliament and currently sits at around 192,000 signatures.
Age verification sits at the centre of the dispute. The campaign argues that requiring users to hand over identity documents to access platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, Discord and Reddit creates new security risks, pointing to past breaches of age-verification data held by third-party providers.
Ofcom has also flagged outstanding challenges with the proposals. In a letter to the government, the regulator said that while “age assurance at 16 should be technically feasible,” it is not straightforward to implement and carries “privacy considerations.”
The Stop Killing the Internet campaign describes itself as a global effort and says similar measures are emerging in Canada, the United States and across the European Union, where age-verification requirements are being pushed at a bloc level.
