Michigan anti-porn law would also block VPNs
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| Credit: Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images |
A proposed anti-porn law in Michigan could also bar VPNs in an effort to block people from circumventing adult content restrictions.
The legislation, proposed by six Republican representatives, is exceptionally prohibitive. Not only would the legislation ban all types of adult content, but it would also prohibit any depictions of transgender people at all.
In addition, the law outlines a ban on "circumvention tools," which includes VPNs, proxy servers, and encrypted tunneling methods. Such a move would be unheard of, even as other states across the country have enacted age-restriction laws on adult material. To ban porn altogether, as well as VPNs, is extreme. Obviously, banning any and all depictions of transgender people simply existing is wildly extreme, too.
To be clear, this is just proposed legislation at the moment, and the chances of it becoming law are unclear.
But it is interesting to note how sweeping these types of bans can be, especially as similar legislation gains momentum across the country. The legislation goes into minute detail on the type of content it considers pornographic. It also specifically bans "one biological sex imitating, depicting, or representing himself or herself to be the other biological sex." That wide-ranging provision could unintentionally ban many Shakespeare plays, Mrs. Doubtfire, the 2002 flop Juwanna Mann, and much more.
SEE ALSO:Porn censorship is going to change the internet as we know it
VPNs are the most common method for unblocking porn sites and streaming adult content anonymously. We've covered the best VPNs for just that here at Mashable. We've also covered the implications these anti-porn laws — and age-verification rules, in particular — have for the open internet. These laws, while ostensibly aimed at keeping kids off adult sites, also raise serious privacy concerns, as they often require people to divulge personal information to access large portions of the internet.
Topics Porn
Land of the free.. am I right guys 🤣
ReplyDeleteSince Pornhub is a Canadian company, Canada should block American access to the website as a retaliation for the tariffs. 😂
ReplyDeleteOmg, awesome 👏 Oh wait….
DeleteNO……
why not? 🤪
Deletedo you think that will be the best retaliation??
DeleteKeep in mind, Project 2025 wanted to ban porn and talk show hosts.
ReplyDeleteVPNs are also for work. Like with my company we use a VPN for all company work. To access shared files etc...
ReplyDeleteTo be clear, this has no chance of passing the Senate or the Governor's desk in Michigan. The House GOP majority in Michigan is playing culture wars while failing to address the budget which has a deadline of Oct 1st to avert a shutdown.
ReplyDeleteLol, banning vpn is gonna work fine, a **** ton of companies use those Rolling on the floor laughing :rofl:
ReplyDeleteThis is simply for that senator to get his name out there… this has 0 chance of passing and he knows it. Guess he needs votes…
ReplyDeleteHow exactly can you ban vpns or porn lol good luck with that. brought to you the party of small government and freedom. what a disgrace and joke.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they P&M'd about cancel culture so I guess they decided they need their own "cancel culture." Roll Eyes :rolleyes:
DeleteWhy not forbid some books while at it? Perhaps burn them at some point.
DeleteThey already have experience with tiki torches.
The GOP was only favor of those things because it was politically advantageous to be. Now that their glorious leader is opposed, so are they. The GOP as a whole has basically abandoned it's entire platform in just a handful of months.
DeleteWe have have just started seeing the start of a new era of McCarthyism or Trumpism with the anti-freedom crowd. I wont be surprised if we see the jailing of media figures on the left pretty soon. I just canceled my Disney plus for their horrid suspension of Kimmel. I also will be canceling my nursing travel contract this week here in the south if they want to be a fascist state so bad then they can do so without skilled labor.
DeleteI think a more apt comparison: We're in the Sulla stage of the Roman Republic, specifically his second reign.
DeleteActually we don’t need to go that far back, we’re in the last throes of the Weimar Republic. And, by the looks of it, there’s no need for an Enabling Act, as the suspension of due process and free speech are already endorsed by Congress and the Supreme Court. Rights of assembly and protest are on the go as well.
DeleteThe smell of Germany‘s Spring of 1933 is strong in the air.
Michigan is about to learn a hard lesson about private proxies. Morons.
ReplyDeletePun intended, I assume. 🤣
DeleteLink to the bill itself: https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2025-2026/billintroduced/House/pdf/2025-HIB-4938.pdf
ReplyDeleteThis bill, as it is currently written is very silly. This bill in concept is also very silly.
In UK there used to be a joke saying "No sex, please. We're British".
ReplyDeleteIt seems like the US is thinking this sort of thing is a good idea.
"No sex, please. We're British" was a famous farce that despite being panned by critics ran in London's West End 1971-1987
Delete"An assistant bank manager, Peter Hunter, lives in a flat above his bank with his new bride Frances. When Frances innocently sends off a mail order for some Scandinavian glassware, what comes back is Scandinavian pornography. The two, along with the bank's frantic chief cashier Brian Runnicles, must decide what to do with the veritable floods of pornography, photographs, books, films and eventually girls that threaten to engulf this happy couple. The matter is considerably complicated by the presence of Eleanor (Peter's mother), Mr. Bromhead (his boss), Mr. Needham (a visiting bank inspector) and Vernon Paul (a police superintendent). "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Sex_Please,_We%27re_British
Child deaths due to guns? Necessary sacrifice!!!
ReplyDeletePorn? Oh, God… think of the children!!!
There are also so many school shootings in the us, perhaps someone should fix that first?
DeleteThat's easy. These kidz should be getting laid more, preferably after watching porn to learn how it's done.
DeleteI mean take stock of it yourself, what's your priority after sex, lighting up a cigarette, or shooting up an elementary school?
WARNING: Cigarette smoking is harmful to your health. This in spite of the fact, that the average 9 mil in the wrong hands will kill you a whole lot quicker.
Republicans will never fix that.
DeleteIn typical Dunning-Kruger fashion, the political right, in the US, appears to believe thoughts and prayers, after the fact, will fix it.
DeleteSpeaking of which -
Deletehttps://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5507549-berwyn-shooting-illinois-middle-school/
I'm an elder millennial, and I'm willing to give boomers (my parent's generation) a bit of a pass on the kind of crazy **** I was able to see online when growing up. It was brand new, there wasn't really anything like it before, it was supposed to "bring humanity together" so on and so forth.
ReplyDeleteBut Gen X and Millennials (and Gen Z who are old enough to have kids now) who are giving their kids unfettered access to the internet... what the **** are these people smoking?
Let's get some congress critters to introduce the "Be a ****ing Parent, not a Friend" act that can include line items like:
- If you give a child younger than 16 a smart phone/tablet, straight to jail.
- If your kid throws a little ***** fit because they really really want a smart phone and you cave, straight to jail.
- If your kid is allowed to have private access to a computer (I.e. their room or the computer is unlocked while you're not home), straight to jail.
- Your kid has to go outside and touch grass at least once a day.
- Any complaining from parents along the lines of "but being a parent is like totes really really hard", congrats death penalty.
For those of you who lack a sense of humor or do not recognize sardonic humor, this is a joke with a healthy helping of truthful opinion included.
I get the joke but many people in our country probably believe this and want this in reality!
DeleteFascism is running wild.
Oh behave. You know damned well what they're smoking. 🤣
DeletePorn is bad. And when you don't realize that it makes you bad as well. Any attempt to stem the flow of perversion to perverts is a good thing
ReplyDeleteExposure to religious leaders and self-righteous politicians that think they know what is good for everyone is bad. Any attempt to stem the flow of freedom of choice based on someone's ill conceived ideas of how others should act is bad and, as a matter of settled constitutional law, is an infringement of 1st Amendment Rights - in the US at least. Surrender the 1st amendment in any context, it won't be long before its surrendered in all contexts for everyone.
DeleteWhat people do in their private space is their business. Good luck keeping porn out of the hands of babes.
You do know there's porn specifically aimed at "babes", don't you? Ostensibly there's more "cuddling after coitus".
DeleteAt my age. I'm just happy I'm still able to pull up my sweatpants and turn off the PC... 😒🤣
Not if the goal is the erode rights that are associated with freedom of speech, freedom of association or entrenching more political oversight & power that will be abused int the future.
DeletePersonally, I don't care for it but that is my own thing. What I do care about is someone thinking they know best for everyone else. If some likes it, then that is their right to choose to partake in that type of thing and is their choice not some bum in the government to make the choice. On the other hand if you do not like it then that is your choice to not partake in it and that was your choice. Do not think for a minute you have the right to make the choice on how other people live their lives. As long as their choices are legal and not hurtning anyone else then power to them. For everyone else frack the heck off.
DeleteThe love of PORN is strong in these ones
ReplyDeleteWhat a clever and inventive paraphrasing of |Star Wars dogma. I wish I'd have thought of it.
DeleteCaptain Cranky rhymes with Captain W
DeleteVery true. And a, "light saber", is a phallic representation to me. What's yours?
DeleteI'm sure you'd like to think that.
DeleteIt’s true that many minors already have access to adult content stored locally on their devices and let’s be honest—teenagers’ curiosity and hormones are powerful forces. Trying to block every possible avenue feels like trying to stop a river with a sieve. If a club plays music you dislike, you don’t demand the DJ change the playlist; you simply walk out. Similarly, if someone isn’t a fan of porn, they can choose to avoid it themselves. The majority of people do consume it, while those who don’t are a smaller group. Ultimately, decisions about what’s appropriate should rest with parents, not the state. Some parents might even view it as educational rather than harmful.
ReplyDeleteIf lawmakers genuinely believe the internet is more harmful than helpful, perhaps they should consider a full ban—no internet, no digital distractions for Michigan. Let’s go back to phone calls, faxes and good old face-to-face conversations. But here’s the catch: even without the internet, kids might still have that “local stash” of content in their phones. So, where does that leave us? Maybe the real solution lies in open conversations between parents and children, rather than sweeping bans that feel more like overreach than protection.
The website didn’t force the kid to open the browser and type in the address bar or Google “www.porn-something.” The kid, on their own autonomy and will, chose to do it(repeatably).
If they want to suppress the teenager’s sex drive expression, then they should start by separating children by gender and placing them in separate schools(with dress code) located far away from each other, which could be and a more effective "solution".
So. Shortly women would have to wear burkas and dance will be prohibited. Thankfully you still be able to shoot people, because of freedom. But vpn is a no no.
ReplyDeleteSchriver is another MAGA White "Christian" Nationalist.
ReplyDeleteIn a December 2023 talk radio interview on WCHY-FM, he said, "At the end of the day, it's God who appoints our elective officials. Honestly, I work for God and not for man. And so I answer to one person, and that's Jesus Christ."
In addition to banning pornography and VPNs, he has called for a ban on hormonal birth control, same-sex marriage and gender-affirming care for adults, as well as promoting the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory.
He posted a tweet in 2024 calling for same-sex marriage to be banned, writing, "Make gay marriage illegal again. This is not remotely controversial, nor extreme." The following year, he introduced a resolution, co-sponsored by six other Republicans, calling for the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges; the resolution did not advance in the chamber.
In 2024, Schriver called for a ban on birth control, saying, "If doctors are sworn to do no harm, then lawmakers should look into banning hormonal birth control."
Needless to say, Schriver is also a 2020 election denier. He lauded the Michigan participants in the 2020 Trump fake electors plot as "America's patriots" and called state Attorney General Dana Nessel a "thug" for charging them with forgery.
He sounds like Mike Johnson's identical twin sister.
DeleteI'm not completely surprised.
ReplyDeleteSex is everywhere. Usually with immaturity behind it. Yuck.
But then again, if women wait too long their eggs dry up. OTOH, we're at the end of alphabet letters to name the next generation. Maybe we should just go extinct and get it over with.
DeleteColor me shocked when rape crime increase tenfold in the state.
ReplyDeletePoliticians with too much time on their hands. Feel compelled they must legislate because that's their job. How about looking for ways to downsize government, leave people alone, and find how many old laws can be done away with? Sounds a lot more productive than bullcrap such as this.
ReplyDeleteAccording to a study 75% of married couples are dissatisfied with their sex lives. That’s the reason porn is on track to become 100B$ business.
ReplyDeleteHow might taking it away affect people? Would there be more divorces? More cheating? More children born outside marriage? Would any of that be better for us?
I'm French, so probably seen as a horrible left winger by a lot, but I have to say this: what a wonderful country the USA has become...
ReplyDeleteI wonder what my friends in california would think of all this if they were still with us... (they passed because of old age, just sayin'...).
All this in the name of Freedom, of course. What a sad state the world is now in... Corruption, bribery, fraud, lies eveywhere, and "normal" people struggling to make ends meet.
Humanity will never learn from the past I'm afraid... :-(
Sound like you just want to surrender......
DeleteHow about this politician moves to Afghanistan or some country that aligns better with his views? They also believe an invisible God decided everything for them.
ReplyDeleteAlso, how about the death penalty rather for child abduction and carrying/trading drugs?
Wow, and here I thought the UK was bad....
ReplyDeleteWhat's interesting with all these bills is that governments are using moral consequence arguments to implement tighter control policies. The policy's aim in the end is to oppress freedom of movement, freedom of speech and ringfence citizenry into a control framework.
ReplyDeleteThis is a bipartisan global concern with the erosion of rights via well orchestrated campaigns linking to moral concerns.
Why are they doing this? They have printed a ton of debt & needs to control the populations of the world while they debase & tax people into oblivion, in the process they establish a new oligarchical order & surveillance state with only approved individuals elected to positions of power.
Some interesting reads on the subject -
ReplyDeletehttps://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2024/09/03/censorship-throughout-the-centuries/
Comic Book Censorship 1948-1955
https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/comic-book-censorship-1948-1955/
https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/elj/vol68/iss5/2/
In a country where the gun is held in such high esteem, one wonders how they claim to be such righteous Christians.
ReplyDeleteAs a famous Monty Python episode opined "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" I have no doubts that they view themselves as "religious warriors" beating back evil where ever they see it Except in their own hearts, of course.
DeleteBut can they defend themselves against someone wielding a piece of fresh fruit?
DeleteOK, FWIW, Monty Python didn't say that, at least not originally. They borrowed it from a WW II incident, and a song composed from it (The orchestral and choral arrangement is massive.).......
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUOPvtVZwo8
Here's one version (?) of the lyrics:
Down went the gunner, a bullet was his fate
Down went the gunner, and then the gunner’s mate
Up jumped the sky pilot, gave the boys a look
And manned the gun himself as he laid aside the Book, shouting
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
And we’ll all stay free
Praise the Lord and swing into position
Can’t afford to sit around a-wishin’
Praise the Lord, we’re all between perdition
And the deep blue sea
Yes the sky pilot said it
Ya gotta give him credit
For a son of a gun of a gunner was he, shouting
Praise the Lord, we’re on a mighty mission
All aboard, we’re not a-goin’ fishin’
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
And we’ll all stay free
Down came the bombers, a-diving from the sky
Down came the bombers, but faith could never die
There stood the sky pilot, there among his men
The light was in his eye, as he shouted once again
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
And we’ll all stay free
Praise the Lord and swing into position
>>Can’t afford to be a politician<<
Praise the Lord, we’re all between perdition
And the deep blue sea
Yes the sky pilot said it
Ya gotta give him credit
For a son of a gun of a gunner was he, shouting
Praise the Lord, we’re on a mighty mission
All aboard, we’re not a-goin’ fishin’
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
And we’ll all stay free
SO, If you haven't overdosed on this by now, here's the Wiki backstory:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praise_the_Lord_and_Pass_the_Ammunition
You're forgetting that the US is a "Christian capitalist country".
DeleteAccordingly, our motto is, "praise the lord, and sell more ammunition".
Ridiculous idea!! The graphic lists that obscenity laws rarely enforced and no dedicated state enforcement. Since you can't enforce your current laws, outdated or not. What makes you think you'll have the resources to enforce this new law(s)? Who will be the enforcers, family social workers, local or state police, FCC, ISPs, VPNs....? There are plenty of tools to restrict children from access, Windows 10 & 11 have parental controls, many ISPs have parental controls as part of the service, Windows 10 & 11 can have time restrictions placed on computer access. The sites and their IP addresses can be blocked in Windows 10 & 11 host file (There are ready made host files online). There is plenty of third-party software to help restrict access. Parents putting the computer in a public area of the house, so usage can be monitored. Same goes for schools!
ReplyDeleteRepublikans and christians making laws .. what could go wrong? ... after that they will want to ban rock music and tatoo bar codes on on people and put them in special camps and help them keep warm...
ReplyDeleteThe US continues it's slide into a faux-Christianity where true Christian behaviour is utterly absent, replaced by bigotry, misogyny and a weird puritanical far-right harking for days gone by that were never really there. Somebody needs to tell them the Handmaid's Tale was a warning not a playbook.
ReplyDeleteWhile this proposed law goes too far, something does need to be done to limit access of materials that have been proven harmful to the proper development of young people.
DeleteYour statement reads like a bad comedy. The purpose of these movements in proper social development is to refine that which helps healthy progress of our civilization. It has nothing to do religion or controlling what adult liberties & freedoms are.
And this is even more bad comedy.
The government doesn't really need to do anything about it. You as the parent already have the tools at your hand to limit access to those materials. There are so so so many of them. Perhaps the government needs to do a better job at educating people and promoting some of those tools that you as a parent can implement to access stuff at home. If you believe the goverment has a need to prevent harm then why the heck do we not have access to free on point healthcare. Yes I know its not free but there is more harm done to kids who cant access healthcare and also get food in schools as in feed the hungry than porn.
DeleteAnd yet it's been sung, played, recognized, and revered, more than anything you're ever done, or will do.
DeleteThe funny part is, the "sky pilot" in the song, is a pseudonym for a Christian minister participating in the battle.
BTW, thanks for clearing up how, "ti", is pronounced "Tee Eye". I never would have guessed.
It's right-wing puritanical faux Christian nonsense that unfortunately the diseased and dysfunctional society the US has become is riddled with. Guns are fine but pornography that's a big no no - what mad society could end up in this kind of position? There have been 308 mass shootings in the US already this year but that's fine. Rather than banning guns ,let ban pornography and abortion - now illegal in 12 states. Oh and lets let ICE sweep people off the streets and from their workplaces with little or no recourse to the law. If you can't see what a grim and oppressive place your once wonderful country is becoming I feel sorry for you.
DeleteThese, so-called moral police sponsoring this, are likely watching porn and even child porn every single day!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I'm by no means a prude. But this comes on the heels of a show I watched the other day on AppleTV where a group of teenagers were in a gaming guild calling themselves "dabqueef" and they would do a dab and then thrust their hips forward for the queef. One of them said he was leaving for a new guild called "clithunters". But a young kid, like 11 or so, kept talking about "fingerblasting" and doing a hand motion that looked like it. There was a lot of other stuff, but I found all this disturbing that these kids were talking about sexual concepts that were frankly surprising that they would even know about at that age and also because a lot of adults were involved in the making of this and no one said "no". My girlfriend and I were talking about this show and she works at a middle school, and said that it's nonstop now, the kids' conversations sound like every single act of out the most depraved porn you could imagine, talking about OF too. She's a raging liberal but even she's under the impression now that it's just too much, these kids are being exposed to concepts that they really shouldn't be and that it should be blocked. I agree. Additionally, dress code has completely left the schools out here and she says these middle school girls are wearing things that would make me blush, thin bra-less sleeveless shirts, shorts that the bottom half of their butt is actually hanging out, no underwear... and since there is no policy, they can't be reprimanded. As a male kid that age once, I would've loved it... but I don't think I'd have been able to focus on the schoolwork at all with all this going on-- and I'm surprised that the parents allow it, but she says these parents are the generation who grew up with mobile devices and porn at their fingertips.
ReplyDeleteThe VPN part, I'm wondering how people will work from home though-- maybe it's something where a business needs to register to have a VPN for approved work purposes?
As someone else said, probably won't get passed, but never underestimate the power of this current administration. In this case, re: the porn, I say good riddance.
While I don't support the industry at all and would like nothing more than to see it crumble, all bans do is create a black market. Prohibition anyone?
ReplyDeleteTo prevent access at my house I installed a router with Zenarmor and I force Cloudflare Family DNS even if someone tries to use another DNS server. I use category filters etc. I have timers set as to when certain devices can access the internet, default devices have the strictest filtering.
This doesn't prevent mobile phones with data plans. For those I have set parental controls, there is no reason for my 12-year-old to have the internet in her pocket. Her phone has no internet access and no picture texting.
Obviously, there are ways around these safeguards, but nothing my 12-year-old is aware of. We'll keep monitoring the situation.