Age‑checks Centralize Internet Control

When regulators mandate user‑level checks (for age, identity, or content access), enforcement tends to shift from website operators to network chokepoints — ISPs, DNS providers, and courts — which can force centralized blocking, bespoke rulesets, and surveillance rather than fixing the underlying social problem. The UK case shows VPN adoption spikes immediately, while debates focus on whether ISPs will be pressed into a 'Great British Firewall' role and how smaller providers will respond. — This reframes online‑safety policy as an infrastructural political choice: age‑verification can quickly translate into centralized gatekeeping (and attendant privacy and market‑power concerns) rather than decentralized compliance.