December 25, 2025
No VPN, No Chill
Governments in the West Are Turning Their Sights on VPNs
From 'protect kids' to ban buttons: commenters cry Big Brother while WFH folks panic
TLDR: Denmark backed EU rules to search private chats and floated curbs on anonymous messaging and VPNs in the name of safety. Comments blast “Big Brother,” warn surveillance can harm kids, and fret over work VPNs turning users into criminals, while skeptics challenge shaky claims and not-so-voluntary “voluntary” codes.
The internet’s favorite plot twist: governments say “protect the kids,” then float rules that scan private chats and flirt with banning VPNs (virtual private networks) altogether. Denmark helped push the EU’s controversial “Chat Control” idea to scan messages, even encrypted ones, before retreating to a “voluntary” search plan—cue side-eyes at how “voluntary” often isn’t. Privacy hawks warn the new version still outlaws anonymous communication, with Euronews and TechRadar amplifying concerns. The crowd is on fire. ETH_start drops the classic: governments point at real evil, then swipe rights. godelski flips the script, arguing surveillance can actually make kids easier to track—dark, but it struck a nerve. Meanwhile galleywest200 asks the relatable question: if you check Instagram during your work VPN session, are you a criminal now? That meme became “VPN = Very Personal Necessity.” Another commenter calls out shaky claims about “teens” driving VPN surges, sparking a receipts war over who’s really bypassing age gates. U.S. readers pile on with Michigan’s proposed law naming VPNs as “circumvention tools,” turning the thread into a transatlantic panic room. The vibe: a mix of civil-liberties alarms, workplace anxiety, and gallows humor—plus jokes about “Ban the Ban” hoodies and going full carrier pigeon if anonymous chatting gets axed.
Key Points
- •Denmark advanced an EU child-protection regulation that initially mandated scanning of private communications, including encrypted messages.
- •Opposition from EU member states, including Germany, blocked the original proposal in the Council of the European Union.
- •A revised, approved compromise mandates voluntary searches for sensitive material in private chats instead of general monitoring.
- •Privacy advocates say the revised proposal still lacks court-order safeguards, bans children from downloading messaging apps, and effectively outlaws anonymous communication.
- •Denmark also proposed a domestic anti-piracy bill that would restrict VPN use to bypass geo-blocks and website blocks, drawing criticism for broad, ambiguous language.