State lawmakers in the US are stepping into unprecedented territory, proposing bills that could effectively eliminate VPN use in the name of “protecting children.” Their solution? Force websites and internet providers to identify and block VPN traffic altogether—an idea that is not only virtually unworkable but threatens to reshape the open internet into a permission-based, government-monitored network.
At IPVanish, our view is simple: you cannot legislate away privacy. Attempts to ban or cripple VPNs harm everyday adults, businesses, journalists, activists, and anyone who relies on encrypted technology to stay safe.
Key Takeaways
- Wisconsin and Michigan are leading an aggressive push to block or criminalize VPN use as part of stricter age-verification laws.
- The proposals would force websites and ISPs to detect and reject VPN traffic, something that is technically infeasible without breaking legitimate internet infrastructure and fundamentally damaging internet security.
- Cybersecurity experts warn of catastrophic collateral damage, including broken business networks, mass privacy violations, and widespread censorship.
- IPVanish’s stance: Privacy tools are essential infrastructure. Treating them as loopholes instead of rights endangers everyone.
Age Verification Laws Have Taken a Dark, Misguided Turn
What began as a debate about how websites should verify ages has morphed into something far more intrusive: government attempts to dictate what software people are allowed to run on their own devices.
The logic goes like this:
- Teens can bypass age verification by using a VPN.
- Therefore, VPNs are the problem.
- Thus, VPNs should be banned.
This is the kind of reasoning only possible when lawmakers misunderstand how the internet works. A person does not need to forge an ID; they simply need to connect through a server outside their state. That’s it. A twenty-second workaround.
Instead of questioning whether age-verification laws are effective or safe in the first place, legislators in Wisconsin and Michigan have reached for the biggest hammer possible: outlaw the tool. But make no mistake: a state-level VPN ban is a broken policy. It’s costly, nearly impossible to enforce, and punishes consumers who simply want safer, private internet access.
Wisconsin: Fast-Tracking VPN Blocks in the United States
Wisconsin’s pending legislation, AB 105 / SB 130, is moving with alarming speed. If passed, it would be the first law in the nation to explicitly deny citizens the right to use a VPN when accessing material widely considered to be protected by the First Amendment.
The proposal forces websites to:
- Identify VPN traffic
- Block that traffic
- And face potential legal liability for failing to do so
The problem? No website can accurately determine whether someone using a VPN is in Milwaukee or Madrid. The only way to comply would be to block all VPN traffic, everywhere.
As of November 12, 2025, Wisconsin’s bill has cleared the Assembly and passed its initial Senate hearing. All that is needed now is a final floor vote, which could happen at any moment, leaving opponents little time to react.
Michigan: A Complete Ban on VPNs Statewide
Michigan’s “Anticorruption of Public Morals Act” goes even further, proposing a measure that would effectively ban the sale and use of personal VPNs statewide. Unlike Wisconsin’s site-side requirement, Michigan shifts enforcement to Internet Service Providers:
- ISPs must detect VPN traffic
- ISPs must block VPN traffic
- And VPNs would become effectively illegal for everyday residents
The bill’s definition of “harmful material” isn’t limited to adult content either. It also targets:
- Manga
- ASMR
- AI-generated content
- depictions of transgender individuals
This is not just a virtually unworkable policy; it sets a precedent for widespread internet breakage.
Why Blocking VPNs Creates New Challenges
Technical experts and digital rights organizations, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, have been blunt: blocking VPNs does not protect children. It affects how essential security tools function and can weaken the privacy protections used by millions.
1. It’s technically infeasible without risking breaking legitimate internet infrastructure
Websites cannot reliably distinguish between corporate VPNs, personal VPNs, secure tunnels, proxies, or cloud infrastructure. Blocking one potentially means blocking them all.
2. It harms basic cybersecurity
Encrypting your connection with a VPN is standard practice:
- Banking
- Remote work
- Healthcare
- Journalism
- Political activism
These bills punish all of it.
3. It sweeps up protected speech
Because the bills use broad and loosely defined categories of “harmful content,” they risk limiting access to lawful material such as LGBTQ+ educational resources, sexual health information, classical and renaissance artwork, and other constitutionally protected forms of expression.
4. It incentivizes unsafe behavior
Forcing people away from secure, encrypted channels pushes them toward unprotected networks where governments, ISPs, advertisers, and attackers can all watch.
This is why the EFF has called this legislative trend “surveillance dressed as safety.”
Tracking the Escalating Legislation
The momentum behind age-verification laws in the USA and UK has intensified sharply. Staying informed has become critical.
- IPVanish maintains a state-by-state tracker monitoring where bills have been introduced, passed, or challenged.
- The Free Speech Coalition publishes updates on active legislation and court battles.
- The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) analyzes the privacy and technical risks of each new bill.
- Fight for the Future (FFTF) works alongside digital rights groups—including the VPN Trust Initiative—to mobilize public action. Their September VPN Day of Action reached millions.
What the Data Shows: These Bans Don’t Protect People
A November 2025 study from The Phoenix Center examined how people respond to state-level website blocks. The results showed that when access is restricted, users often look for ways to circumvent those blocks. After age-verification laws took effect, searches for “VPN” jumped 47% while searches for “free porn” rose by 30% in the same period.
But this doesn’t mean VPNs themselves are the problem. Instead, they highlight a disconnect between policy design and real-world behavior. Restricting websites creates incentives for users to look for alternative methods, and if VPNs become unavailable, people may turn to proxies or other similar tools that offer even fewer security protections.
Banning privacy tools does not eliminate those incentives. It only removes the legitimate security safeguards that adults, businesses, and journalists rely on every day.
IPVanish’s Position: Privacy Is Not a Loophole. It’s a Right.
The push to outlaw VPNs reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the internet. Consumer security tools are not “backdoors,” they are front-door locks—the basic protection millions rely on to function safely online.
These bills will not stop determined individuals. What they will do is:
- Make remote work more difficult and less secure
- Jeopardize personal security
- Endanger journalists and activists
- Undermine businesses
- Expand government surveillance
- And erode digital freedom for everyone
Secure technology should not be outlawed because it is inconvenient for policymakers.
At IPVanish, we believe a free and secure internet requires strong encryption, private connections, and user autonomy—not surveillance mandates disguised as safety.
If lawmakers want a safer internet, dismantling privacy isn’t the path forward. Protecting it is.
