- Wisconsin lawmakers remove VPN ban provision from age verification bill
- The requirement for adult sites to block VPN users was scrapped
- Digital rights experts warn that issues with privacy and free speech remain
Wisconsin lawmakers have scrapped a controversial VPN ban from an age-verification bill following backlash from residents and digital rights experts.
First introduced in March 2025, Senate Bill 130 (and its Assembly counterpart AB 105) originally required any provider distributing “harmful” material to minors to block all users connecting via a VPN.
Republican Senator Van Wanggaard moved to strike the provision on Wednesday, February 19. The amendment also added “virtual service provider” to the bill’s final paragraphs to clarify that VPN firms themselves are not liable under the law. The Senate welcomed the change, and the Assembly concurred the following day, sending the bill to the Governor’s desk for signing.
The move marks a significant victory for privacy in the state and follows an open letter from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) that labeled the original proposal a “spectacularly bad idea.”
“It’s great news. Politicians heard VPN users’ worries and fears in Wisconsin, how a ban just wouldn’t work, and removed that section,” Rindala “Rin” Alajaji, Associate Director of State Affairs at EFF, told TechRadar.
Alajaji warns that the broader bill remains problematic, citing potential privacy violations, security risks, and restrictions on free speech.
Privacy and free speech still at risk
“It looks like public advocacy and pushback really worked. But I want to make it clear that the bill is still very problematic even without the VPN provision,” Alajaji told TechRadar.
Like similar age-verification laws appearing across the US, the Wisconsin bill would require both adults and minors to share sensitive personal information with any platform hosting content deemed “harmful to minors.”
This process often involves uploading government IDs, financial records, or biometric data, creating highly sensitive databases that experts warn are prime targets for data breaches and privacy abuses.
The EFF also argues that the bill’s definition of what is “harmful” is dangerously broad. As written, any sexually explicit content must be age-gated if it lacks “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.” It’s a vague standard that critics say invites over-censorship, chills lawful speech, and leaves businesses vulnerable to unpredictable enforcement.
Beyond Wisconsin
Wisconsin isn’t the only state to weigh VPN restrictions alongside age-verification laws. Michigan introduced a similar bill last September, though the proposal has yet to gain significant traction.
Alajaji told TechRadar that Michigan’s bill has only been filed and has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. She views the delay as a “good thing,” given that the bill seeks to go even further by banning the promotion or sale of circumvention tools.
Critics also point to the bill’s troubling definition of material “harmful to minors,” which controversially includes any reference to transgender individuals.
While American VPN users may be safe for now, the situation across the Atlantic is more precarious. UK politicians have shown a growing commitment to “closing the VPN loophole” that bypasses mandatory age checks. Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently confirmed that the government may “age restrict or limit children’s VPN use” following a three-month consultation period.
Despite the concerns for British users, the prospect of UK restrictions may inadvertently bolster the global argument against such bans. Alajaji suggests that a UK-led VPN crackdown could serve as a cautionary tale, illustrating the collateral damage such restrictions inflict on businesses and individual privacy.
“I feel the only reason these proposals have gone so far is that we haven’t seen that impact. The reality is that it’s just really hard to implement a VPN ban generally; to do it completely accurately is near impossible,” she said.
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone using a VPN service to break the law or conduct illegal activities. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BNKV8vcTXpNNxy9DPcxRAH-2181-80.jpg
Source link
chiara.castro@futurenet.com (Chiara Castro)
