On Wednesday, Utah made history as the pioneering state to outlaw the use of VPNs for bypassing age checks, even as experts caution that this rule might prompt platforms to block VPN IP addresses entirely.
Senate Bill 73 makes online platforms responsible for users who hide their location within Utah, effectively treating anyone linked to a Utah-based VPN as if they were physically present in the state for the purpose of confirming age.
This law mirrors similar legislative efforts in Michigan and Wisconsin, marking the first significant U.S. move to control VPN usage for age verification compliance.
Nevertheless, privacy campaigners fear this could result in a total ban on all VPN addresses, creating a «technical whack-a-mole that likely no company can win.» The Electronic Frontier Federation noted that «if a website cannot reliably detect a VPN user’s true location and the law requires it to do so for all users in a particular state, then the legal risk could push the site to either ban all known VPN IPs, or to mandate age verification for every visitor globally.»
The EFF cautions that as more governments attempt to curb VPN use among minors to enforce age verification laws, the public is «entering uncharted territory.» «Utah is setting a precedent that prioritizes government control over the fundamental architecture of a private and secure internet, and it won’t stop at the state’s borders,» the group argues.
Over the last year, both Australia and the UK have implemented age verification measures to block access to «harmful content.» While Australia’s rules have been called an «unmitigated disaster» by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, reports indicate that children in the UK have been drawing on mustaches to bypass age restrictions.
Representatives for the EFF and the Utah Senate did not respond to Gfaloe’s request for additional details.
