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   CONSPRCY      How big is your tinfoil hat?      2,445 messages   

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   Message 1,783 of 2,445   
   Mike Powell to All   
   The Michigan bill is a da   
   26 Sep 25 10:07:05   
   
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   "The Michigan bill is a danger for the political discourse"  Proton slams   
   verification laws turning VPNs into a liability   
      
   Date:   
   Thu, 25 Sep 2025 15:32:03 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   Proton explains why banning VPN is a bad idea and how proposals like the one   
   in Michigan risk changing the US approach towards this security software.   
      
   FULL STORY   
   ======================================================================   
      
   VPN usage is under threat in the US, and mandatory age verification seems to   
   be the culprit.    
      
   As more and more US states have, or plan to, pass some form of age   
   verification laws , the best VPN providers are expected to see a spike in   
   interest in their products across the country.    
      
   Since the end of August 2025, all BlueSky users in Mississippi have been   
   unable to access their accounts without a VPN. Arizona's fans of adult-only   
   content are now set to require such a tool starting from Friday (September   
   26), as major platforms are geo-restricting their content to protest what    
   they believe to be an "ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous" piece of   
   legislation.    
      
   Yet, it's a recently proposed Michigan adult content law that came as the    
   most radical by proposing a complete ban on both the use and promotion of any   
   circumventing tools. The proposal now risks poisoning the entire debate on   
   VPNs in the country  and Proton VPN is worried.    
      
   "I do think there is a danger for this type of bill to be in the political   
   discourse. It sends the wrong message around what the US approach should be   
   for internet security and censorship," US Public Policy Manager at Proton,   
   Christne Bannan, told TechRadar.    
      
   So, from VPNs historically enjoying bipartisan support, the fact that they    
   can be used to bypass new age verification requirements could be enough to   
   turn these tools into a liability. An obstacle that needs to be dealt with   
   quickly, once and for all. The problem is that our internet security and   
   freedoms are also on the line.   
      
   How Michigan plans to get rid off VPNs and what's at stake   
      
   As per the House Bill 4938 , or simply "Anticorruption of Public Morals Act,"   
   internet service providers would be forced to "monitor and block known   
   circumvention tools."    
      
   "The promotion or sale of circumvention tools to access prohibited material"   
   will also be banned in the state under this law.    
      
   Fines for non-compliance are expected to be as high as $500,000.    
      
   Specifically, lawmakers define circumvention tools as "any software,    
   hardware, or service designed to bypass internet filtering mechanisms or   
   content restrictions, including virtual private networks (VPNs) , proxy   
   servers , and encrypted tunneling methods to evade content restrictions."    
      
   As Banned explains, this Michigan bill de facto creates a liability for ISPs   
   (internet service providers) that are enabling access to VPNs, regardless of   
   whether or not they're used to access pornography.    
      
   "This law really has such widespread implications for internet usage,   
   completely unrelated to the purpose of the bill," Bannen told TechRadar. "It   
   takes an extreme approach that would have implications for all content and    
   all internet security."    
      
   On a practical level, if this passes, Michigan users of Proton VPN (and any   
   other VPN service, for that matter) could presumably be blocked from    
   accessing this security software. They will then be prevented from using a   
   tool that millions worldwide use every day to boost their online privacy and   
   security.   
      
   "We don't wanna be a tool of blocking"    
      
   Despite the idea that the bill, which also seeks to outright ban any   
   pornography and depictions of transgender people from the web altogether,   
   could pass, Bannen thinks the proposal is too radical to have a real chance   
   throughout the legislative process.    
      
   Yet, even if the Michigan bill fails to pass, it could still be enough to    
   push the US to become much more open to the idea of censoring access to the   
   internet. Something that could make other lawmakers think that it's    
   legitimate to issue new requirements to all those companies that enable the   
   circumvention of online restrictions. Did you know? (Image credit: Pixabay)    
   In 2024, the US-backed Open Technology Fund (OTF) urged Big Tech giants to   
   step in and better support circumvention software. A made-in-the-US VPN ban   
   would violently crash with such a proposition.    
      
   Being designated as the reason behind the failure of age verification   
   policies, Bannen explains, could then become the pretext to force VPNs to   
   block certain content.    
      
   That's an idea that, for example, the children's commissioner for England,   
   Dame Rachel de Souza, has also raised when she deemed VPNs as " a loophole   
   that needs closing."    
      
   All in all, Bannen said: "We don't want to be forced to track content, nor do   
   we want our users to accept having their information tracked. We don't wanna   
   be a tool of blocking, and that's the bigger risk.    
      
   "VPNs are primarily used for internet security, and just because they can be   
   used to circumvent restrictions, it doesn't mean they aren't essential.   
   Especially for those users who face authoritarian crackdowns on freedom of   
   expression. Democracies should not be using the same techniques as   
   authoritarians."    
      
   Proton certainly isn't the only one feeling this way. Fight for the Future    
   has launched the Defend VPNs Day of Action initiative exactly to call   
   lawmakers on taking a "principled leadership" against VPNs. If you are also   
   worried about a future where VPNs get restricted, you can sign the petition   
   (in the link below) .   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/the-michigan-bill-is-a-dang   
   er-for-the-political-discourse-proton-slams-verification-laws-turning-vpns-int   
   o-a-liability   
      
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