00:04Welcome to Euronews' fact-checking show, The Cube.
00:07Posts circulating on social media claim the EU is planning to censor the Internet
00:11by introducing a so-called digital passport.
00:14The claims refer to the European Commission's New Age Verification App
00:18designed to help protect children from harmful or age-inappropriate online content.
00:23The controversy centers on how the system will work.
00:25To set up the app, users will need to verify their age using an identity document
00:30such as a passport or a national ID card.
00:33Once activated, the app is designed to confirm only whether someone is old enough to access a service
00:39without sharing personal details such as their name or date of birth.
00:43And critics argue this amounts to online censorship.
00:46The European Commission says the app is simply intended to prevent under-18s
00:50from accessing content or services that may be harmful to them.
00:54The app is expected to be rolled out by the end of 2026
00:57once adopted by member states or integrated into national European digital identity wallets.
01:03Some posts have also revised the claim that the EU plans to ban or block VPNs to enforce the new
01:09system.
01:09The Cube has already debunked this claim,
01:11which stems from an EU research briefing that noted that VPNs can sometimes be used to bypass HX.
01:18But the document was not an EU policy proposal and did not call for restrictions on VPNs.
01:23After questions were raised during the launch of the age verification app,
01:27Hena Virkunen, the European commissioner responsible for tech sovereignty and security,
01:32later clarified that the aim is to make HX more effective, not to restrict VPNs.
01:38Her office also confirmed to the Cube that there are no plans to crackdown on VPNs.
01:42The Cube and the European Press
01:46The Cube is a great deal of all the time.
01:47The Cube is a great deal of all the time that we have not been able to do in the
01:47US and free to make HX.
01:47The Cube is a great deal of all the time that we have already touched onophone.
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