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Is a new ban coming?<\/p>\n
getty<\/p>\n
Updated on Nov. 10 with new analysis of proposed VPN bans and the implications for Google\u2019s new warning for millions of users installing this software.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of millions of smartphone users are now subject to porn bans and restrictions, as legislators in the U.S. and Europe either block adult websites completely or mandate identity and age verification checks on users accessing content. <\/p>\n
This plays into a fundamental misunderstanding of the way the global internet works. It also has drastic, long-term implications for the freedom of millions. And there are serious short-term threats as well, which has prompted a new Google warning.<\/p>\n
Whilst multiple U.S. states have enacted porn bans of various flavors, it is the U.K. that could be the trigger point for a more fundamental change to internet freedoms. The country mandates age verification checks on porn sites, which has reportedly decimated porn use<\/a>. That\u2019s obviously nonsense, it has done nothing of the sort. And so the country could now tread new ground, echoing its fight with Apple<\/a> over cloud encryption. <\/p>\n ForbesMicrosoft\u2019s Free Windows Offer\u2014You Have 24 Hours To Update Your PCBy Zak Doffman<\/a><\/p>\n What has happened \u2014 just as in the U.S. \u2014 is VPN usage has surged<\/a>. Porn users now pretend to be someplace else, accessing Pornhub and other sites via servers in countries with no restrictions. Just as with money laundering and online gambling, legislators are discovering that local laws mean nothing in isolation where the internet is concerned.<\/p>\n Now the U.K. is teasing the idea of a VPN ban<\/a>. Just as its iCloud encryption ban has restricted its Apple users in a way even China has not, so the country is so focused on controlling the internet that it may do the same with VPNs. Unfortunately, it\u2019s not alone. Some U.S. legislators would do the same if it was workable<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s likely Wisconsin will be the first to test the art of the possible. Its proposed legislation to stop adult websites \u201cknowingly and intentionally publishing or distributing material harmful to minors on the internet,\u201d is designed \u201cto prevent anyone from accessing their content when connected to a VPN,\u201d per TechRadar<\/a>. <\/p>\n Similar proposals in Michigan<\/a> have been been criticized by Proton (which supplies its own VPN) for \u201csending the wrong message around what the U.S. approach should be for internet security and censorship.\u201d These are all dominoes, and it will take just one to fall before other states follow suit, just as with the porn blocks themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cTo protect their data and digital privacy, people are increasingly turning to VPNs. Unsurprisingly, though, lawmakers in Wisconsin aren\u2019t pleased about it,\u201d TechRadar says<\/a>, \u201cand have drafted a bill (called Wisconsin AB 105\/SB 130) that could make it illegal to use a VPN to access adult content.\u201d<\/p>\n VPNs are lifelines for internet users behind iron and bamboo curtains around the world, providing access to social media, news sites and messaging. For the west to consider restrictions is dangerous. To do so in the interest of child safety is disingenuous. Truly bad actors simply use something else. It\u2019s normal users that pay the price.<\/p>\n There is also the technical challenge of locally blocking VPNs. It would require significant changes in how the internet is provided and monitores and the freedom to install apps on devices. State-by-state restrictions on app availability would be a new direction of travel that would trigger a major outcry from privacy advocates.<\/p>\n And the same is true when it comes to cyber safety. Hundreds of millions of users are now downloading and installing VPNs, secure tunnels that route all internet traffic to and from a device via third-party servers. VPNs are powerful tools. And from the wrong developers they\u2019re dangerous tools. A bad VPN is much worse than no VPN.<\/p>\n Cue Google\u2019s new warning<\/a>. \u201cThreat actors distribute malicious applications disguised as legitimate VPN services,\u201d and many of these impersonate trusted enterprise and consumer VPN brands or use social engineering lures.”<\/p>\n Just as with all the other VPN warnings now doing the rounds, Google\u2019s has been triggered by porn bans that have seen installs of VPN apps skyrocket by thousands of percentage points in a very short period of time. An entirely new user base has to be educated on the risks in using bad VPNs quickly, before the damage is done.<\/p>\n A VPN ban would just make this worse. Google\u2019s warning to only use verified apps from official sources would be impossible. Users would turn to illicit downloads without any of those critical security checks in place. It would be a hackers\u2019 paradise.<\/p>\n ForbesApple\u2019s iPhone Update\u2014Do Not Lose Your PhotosBy Zak Doffman<\/a><\/p>\n Google says \u201conce installed, these applications serve as a vehicle to deliver dangerous malware payloads including info-stealers, remote access trojans and banking trojans that exfiltrate sensitive data such as browsing history, private messages, financial credentials and cryptocurrency wallet information.\u201d<\/p>\n Google\u2019s advice to install VPNs only from official stores is key. But I\u2019d go further. Free VPNs are best avoided. Chinese VPNs must be avoided. Google and Apple have been criticized for allowing unsafe VPNs<\/a> onto their app stores. Use your own judgment and select a reputable VPN from a well-known western brand. And be prepared to pay for it.<\/p>\n