• Tech Services & Software VPN Wisconsin Reverses Decision to Ban VPNs in Age-Verification Bill The law would have required websites to block VPN users from accessing “harmful material.” Some states are considering crackdowns on VPN use to enforce age-verification laws. • Following a wave of criticism, Wisconsin lawmakers have decided not to include a ban on VPN services in their age-verification law, making its way through the state legislature. • Wisconsin Senate Bill 130 (and its sisterAssembly Bill 105), introduced in March 2025, aims to prohibit businesses from “publishing or distributing material harmful to minors” unless there is a reasonable “method to verify the age of individuals attempting to access the website.” One provision would have required businesses to bar people from accessing their sites via “a virtual private network system or virtual private network provider.” AVPNlets you access the internet via an encrypted connection, enabling you to bypass firewalls and unblock geographically restricted websites and streaming content. • While using a VPN, your IP address and physical location are masked, and your internet service provider doesn’t know which websites you visit. • Van Wanggaardmoved to delete that provisionin the legislation, thereby releasing VPNs from any liability. • The state assemblyagreed to remove the VPN ban, and the bill now awaits Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers’s signature.

Article Summaries:

  • Wisconsin lawmakers have removed a proposed ban on virtual private networks (VPNs) from the state’s age‑verification bill (Senate Bill 130 and Assembly Bill 105). The legislation, aimed at preventing businesses from distributing material harmful to minors without a reliable age‑verification method, originally required sites to block access via VPNs. After criticism from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other stakeholders, Senate Majority Leader Van Wanggaard deleted the provision, and the Assembly agreed. The bill now awaits Governor Tony Evers’s signature. The EFF praised the reversal, noting that blocking VPNs would be ineffective and harm legitimate users.

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