It's unfortunately no longer enough to force websites to check your government-issued ID before you can access certain content, because politicians have now discovered that people are using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to protect their privacy and bypass these invasive laws. Their solution? Entirely ban the use of VPNs.
  • Konala Koala@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    11 days ago

    Let’s be clear here: lawmakers need to abandon this entire approach.

    The answer to “how do we keep kids safe online” isn’t “destroy everyone’s privacy.” It’s not “force people to hand over their IDs to access legal content.” And it’s certainly not "ban access to the tools that protect journalists, activists, and abuse survivors.”

    If lawmakers genuinely care about young people’s well-being, they should invest in education, support parents with better tools, and address the actual root causes of harm online. What they shouldn’t do is wage war on privacy itself. Attacks on VPNs are attacks on digital privacy and digital freedom. And this battle is being fought by people who clearly have no idea how any of this technology actually works.

    If you live in Wisconsin—reach out to your Senator and urge them to kill A.B. 105/S.B. 130, and if you know someone who lives in Wisconsin—tell them to do the same. Our privacy matters. VPNs matter. And politicians who can’t tell the difference between a security tool and a “loophole” shouldn’t be writing laws about the internet.

  • HexesofVexes@lemmy.world
    1·
    12 days ago

    It’s as if the USA and UK are locked in a perpetual “hold my beer” moment with their legislation.

    Then again, Europe is also pushing some boundaries with it’s chat snooping laws.

    A bad time to be an internet user really…

    • ADTJ@feddit.uk
      1·
      12 days ago

      I feel like a lot of my European (EU citizen) friends are commentating from some high horse but in reality I feel European lawmakers are just watching how this plays out before deciding to follow suit.

  • MisterFrog@lemmy.world
    1·
    10 days ago

    Hey guys, remember when these same countries ragged on China for being against freedom of expression?

    The sad part is, banning VPNs for most users is extremely doable now.

    Source: I have been to China not that long ago and VPNs are mostly cooked now :(

    Luckily my state government seems to encourage VPN use (despite the federal government’s horseshittery): https://www.vic.gov.au/using-public-wifi-networks-safely

  • mechoman444@lemmy.world
    0·
    11 days ago

    It’s only a matter of time before some protocol is invented that bypasses all of this with some simple code or some plugin.

    You can’t just ban your way to compliance.

  • starman2112@lemmy.world
    0·
    12 days ago

    Nobody’s reading tfa. They aren’t banning VPNs, they’re banning websites that allow access to users using a VPN. Which is stupid, of course, but it isn’t going to get in the way of your piracy. 1337x does not care about Wisconsin state law.

    Websites subject to this proposed law are left with this choice: either cease operation in Wisconsin, or block all VPN users, everywhere, just to avoid legal liability in the state. One state’s terrible law is attempting to break VPN access for the entire internet, and the unintended consequences of this provision could far outweigh any theoretical benefit.

    If anything, they’re effectively going to build a Great Firewall around Wisconsin. Much easier to just not serve the approximately 10 users from that state than it is to implement the measures they’re demanding

    • XeroxCool@lemmy.world
      0·
      11 days ago

      I read tfa and banning use of VPNs is, in fact, a possibility to be compliant. Because how exactly do you determine a visitor to Pornhub is actually a VPN user from Wisconsin? The website can’t, presumably, trace the user’s location (defeating the entire purpose of the VPN), so that leaves VPN providers as the next responsible party.

      • starman2112@lemmy.world
        0·
        11 days ago

        Nothing in this bill would lead to the use of VPNs being banned. Any given website could hypothetically ban the use of VPNs to access it, but that’s not a ban on VPNs the way the headline makes it out to be.

        how exactly do you determine a visitor to Pornhub is actually a VPN user from Wisconsin?

        It’s impossible, which means that in order to be compliant, websites would have to simply stop serving Wisconsin, like they already have with several other US states. There is nothing preventing either you or Pornhub from sending whatever 1s and 0s you want to some random Mullvad server in Canada. They can’t even punish Mullvad for this, as the text of the bill explicitly “prohibits business entities from knowingly and intentionally publishing or distributing material harmful to minors on the Internet,” and any good VPN has no idea what material you’re accessing via their servers.

        • XeroxCool@lemmy.world
          1·
          11 days ago

          You’re making a very technical, logical interpretation of the bill. The problem is that the bill was written by illogical, naive people. This brand of government has already proven they want to hold VPNs accountable and have tried to force tracking into them. Having a bulletproof defense doesn’t mean governments can’t try to drag them through court anyway, especially when VPNs have already been publicly vilified as something only bad people use.