Lawmakers in Michigan advocate for a comprehensive prohibition of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) within a proposed legislative measure labeled as 'promoting public morals'
The state of Michigan has proposed a new bill titled the "Anticorruption of Public Morals Act," which, if passed, could significantly impact internet freedoms and online privacy. Introduced on September 11, 2025, by Republican representative Josh Schriver and sponsored by five other representatives, the bill aims to prohibit the distribution of certain material on the internet that corrupts public morals.
One of the bill's key provisions is the blocking of all forms of adult content, including video, audio, magazine, AI-generated content, manga, and even depictions of transgender people. This extensive ban extends to the sale of circumvention tools such as VPNs, proxies, and encrypted tunneling methods.
Internet service providers (ISPs) operating in Michigan are required to implement mandatory filtering technology to block access to the proscribed material. ISPs are also mandated to actively monitor and block known circumvention tools. Promoting VPN usage could result in fines of up to $500,000.
VPNs, however, are not endorsed or approved for consuming pirated content that is paid-for. They are primarily used for legal recreational purposes, such as accessing a service from another country or protecting online security and privacy when abroad. VPNs can encrypt your internet traffic, spoof your location by changing your IP address, and protect your data from malicious third-parties.
Future Publishing, a well-known technology reviewer, tests and reviews VPN services in the context of these legal uses. The bill's potential impact on VPNs mirrors unjust attacks on VPNs in the UK, France, Russia, Pakistan, Myanmar, and other countries that have cracked down on VPNs.
Enacting a blanket, state-wide ban on the sale of VPNs would significantly impact the online privacy of millions and target VPN users who want to protect their personal data or use one of the best streaming VPNs. Critics argue that this could represent a dangerous attack on internet freedoms and online privacy tools, resembling internet censorship tactics seen in authoritarian countries rather than a Western democracy.
The bill was referred to the Committee on Judiciary for discussion and debate before deciding on its next steps. However, as of now, there is no available information about which politician introduced the law in Michigan on September 11, 2025, banning the sale of VPN services. In the first six months of 2025, 24 cases of internet restrictions were recorded, raising concerns about the potential escalation of such measures.
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