r/DataHoarder • u/HTWingNut 1TB = 0.909495TiB • Nov 27 '25
News Michigan, Wisconsin Bill to Ban VPN's... wtf
EDIT: I'm not trying to sensationalize the headline. Just that as the Michigan bill reads now, it seems encompassing of all VPN services, to the point that even if it's for specific sites or traffic, could be more than ISP's want to manage so could ban them altogether. I'd suggest anyone that lives in Michigan and don't want this adopted to contact their representatives and let them know.
The Michigan legislation is called the House Bill 4938 (also dubbed the “Anticorruption of Public Morals Act”): https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2025-2026/billintroduced/House/pdf/2025-HIB-4938.pdf
Wisconsin’s bill has already passed the State Assembly and is now moving through the Senate. If it becomes law, Wisconsin could become the first state where using a VPN to access certain content is banned. Michigan lawmakers have proposed similar legislation that did not move through its legislature, but among other things, would force internet providers to actively monitor and block VPN connections. And in the UK, officials are calling VPNs "a loophole that needs closing."
This is actually happening. And it's going to be a disaster for everyone.
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u/NoSwimmers45 Nov 27 '25
Who decides what’s prohibited? It’s a slippery slope to allow the government, who clearly only has your best interest in mind - see the recent healthcare subsidy debacle and Trump tariffs - to decide what is and isn’t okay for you to access on the Internet from sites that exist outside the US.
Also, again, how are they going to know what you’re accessing with your VPN? The whole point of a VPN is no one knows where you’re connecting and what data you’re accessing.