Linus Tech Tips Discussion

 VPN Ban Proposed by Michigan Legislature Summary A group of 6 House legislators led by Josh Schriver in the Michigan Legislature have introduced House Bill No. 4938, aka the Anticorruption of Public Morals Act. The purported purpose of the act is to ban pornography, as well as depictions of sex in media. As it's currently written, it would ban any non-academic and non-medical content that depicts sex for all people in Michigan. This means not just porn, but also adult movies, shows, and other art. It isn't just a ban for minors, but adults as well.    However, it doesn't just ban sexual content. The bill also proposes a ban on "circumvention tools" including proxy servers and VPNs. Page 4 of the bill states "An internet service provider providing internet service in this state shall actively monitor and block known circumvention tools."   The bill doesn't currently appear to have much support beyond the group proposing it.    Quotes Quote "[The bill] would include the blocking of "circumvention tools" such as the best VPNs, proxies, and "encrypted tunneling methods." Promoting VPN usage could result in fines of up to $500,000." - Tom's Guide "The bill, called the Anticorruption of Public Morals Act and advanced by six Republican representatives, would ban a wide variety of adult content online, ranging from ASMR and adult manga to AI content and any depiction of transgender people. It also seeks to ban all use of VPNs, foreign or US-produced. " - CNET   My thoughts Even though there isn't much support currently, that it has any support at all is concerning. I think it's obvious that the ban is overly broad, it would ban even adults from consuming content such as watch Game of Thrones. The bill would, funnily enough, also likely ban the book '1984', famous for its themes of government censorship and sexual repression.   As concerning as that already is, I think the more concerning part of this bill is the idea of banning VPNs and similar tools. The immediate concern that comes to mind for me is privacy, of course, but I think there are more significant impacts than that. Safety when using public internet is one, but also VPN usage by organizations. Maybe for some there are alternatives, but an example I can't find a good alternative for would be home care nurses given they require access to a database of sensitive health information and can't always be on an employer-controlled network while in the field.   The worst potential abuse of this, however, is the free speech implications. While banning VPNs would not itself directly inhibit much, if any, it would prevent (or at least make more difficult) circumvention of government censorship. Clearly the US federal government understands this, given that through USAGM (as approved by congress) funds the Open T