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Erica Stanford claims Government never considered VPN ban

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 7 Jul 2026, 6:06pm
Education Minister Erica Stanford. Photo / Alyse Wright
Education Minister Erica Stanford. Photo / Alyse Wright

The Education Minister denies ever considering banning Virtual Private Networks as part of the social media ban for under-16s, but says the tool was talked about.

The Post reported this morning Erica Stanford was looking at prohibiting VPNs, which lets internet users mask their location and online address.

The Prime Minister and Stanford rejected the claim.

She says they discussed VPNs in a different context. 

"They can be used for children to get around social media bans, and we also talked about the fact that big tech firms have the ability to know when children are doing that."

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