The VPN panic is only getting started

Child Safety vs. Censorship and Control

• Many see “protecting the children” as a pretext: VPN and porn controls are described as a wedge to increase state control, deanonymize the web, and shape narratives.
• Others argue there should be accountability for lies and harmful content online, but this immediately runs into “who decides what’s a lie?” and examples of governments and majorities being wrong or dishonest.
• Some connect these moves to broader authoritarian trends: expanded surveillance, politicized law enforcement, and a growing comfort with censorship dressed up as “safety” and “accountability.”

Technical Naivety and Futility of VPN Restrictions

• Lawmakers are criticized as not understanding VPNs or internet architecture; VPNs are tools, not content, and can’t directly “harm kids.”
• Banning or restricting VPNs is seen as technically leaky: kids could use foreign VPSs, Tor, or future stealthier systems; blocking one layer just pushes usage elsewhere.
• The surge in VPN usage is argued to be largely adults avoiding age/ID checks, not kids gaming filters.

Parents vs. Government: Who Protects Kids Online?

• One camp insists parents should monitor, educate, and set boundaries; outsourcing this to government is called lazy and dangerous.
• Others counter that we don’t rely solely on parents for alcohol, gambling, or driving restrictions; expecting parents to individually police complex online systems is unrealistic.
• Strong disagreement over “helicopter parenting”: some see strict monitoring and punishments as necessary; others say that only teaches kids to lie and evade, advocating trust, explanation, and limited but meaningful consequences.

Porn, Platforms, and Online Harm

• Some want both “creepy government overreach” and “scummy porn/social media platforms” curtailed; others stress that these laws hit all sexual content and adult privacy, not just exploitative actors.
• Debate over whether modern internet harms (algorithmic addiction, parasocial platforms, incel culture) are worse than earlier eras of unfiltered IRC/Usenet and printed porn, with disagreement about causality vs. moral panic.

Resistance and Next Steps

• Suggestions range from protests to technical resistance: Tor, distributed ISPs, mesh networks, or off-internet networks.
• Most expect little mass mobilization; economic crises, not VPN bans, are seen as what typically triggers direct action.