Major backlash to Michigan VPN ban bill as thousands call on lawmakers to defend VPNs
Users sound off as online ID checks and social media bans lead lawmakers to consider bans on crucial Internet safety, privacy, and anti-censorship tech.
As part of today’s VPN Day of Action, a kickoff event for civil society’s defense of VPNs from authoritarian lawmakers, 15,000+ VPN users and digital rights activists just joined a petition demanding lawmakers defend the tech they rely on.
This day of action comes as VPN usage has soared in response to adoption of ID check laws in places like Britain and Mississippi. These policies act to censor online communities and knowledge for those deemed too young or those unwilling to submit their government documents and/or biometrics in order to access online content. The massive increase in VPN usage has led some politicians to join regimes like Russia in considering banning VPNs.
This month, Michigan lawmakers introduced a first-in-the-nation bill to ban VPNs from their state—drawing concerns from Michiganders during the day of action. The bill also bans all pornography and defines as pornography any digital representation of a trans person, including photos such as family portraits that depict a young trans child.
Recently, VPNs played a role in allowing student activists in Nepal to dodge social media bans and organize to overthrow their authoritarian government, ultimately choosing a new leader on previously-banned Discord once the government caved to protests and lifted the ban.
On September 26, Arizona is set to join over a dozen states in the US that have implemented laws forcing websites to block all users in their state or face existential legal consequences—censorship that people need VPNs to circumvent.
“Politicians looking to go viral in the kids safety moral panic echo chamber have made it clear they will never think critically about the real-world consequences of their bad laws,” said Lia Holland (they/she), Campaigns and Communications Director at Fight for the Future, which organized the day of action. “Let the VPN Day of Action be their first warning: if they come for one of our last tools for online privacy, safety, and censorship-free knowledge and community, the Internet is going to make them regret it. VPN users understand the stakes of losing access to the reputable technologies that protect their rights online, and they will show up for this fight. Our plan is to make bad lawmakers nervous enough to leave VPNs alone and to educate ignorant lawmakers so they can finally start standing up for the tools and rights that make the Internet a safer place to connect with each other and to do business.”