Good luck banning something that any computer in the world can run. You have wireguard vpn built into the Linux kernel. :)
this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2026
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And have you tried running said built-in wireguard on ISPs that block it? Spoiler: you can't.
This article seems a little misinformed: VPNs are still regularly used in business and are necessary for companies to function. That's still probably their primary use if I had to guess.
People who are trying to ban them clearly have no clue what they're doing as banning VPNs would be an absolute disaster, not just for privacy minded people or folks who want to watch something region locked, but for the basic tech functions of just about any sizeable business.
"New legislation mandates that we no longer offer the VPN connections necessary for our remote workers to access the company intranet off premises. Starting immediately, all employees are to return to office 7 days a week. If this does not work for you, please reach out to HR and they will accept that as your resignation in lieu of a written document."
— Meta (the corp pushing the age verification laws), probably.
What about all of the site-to-site VPNs?
I know right? Egypt, Tanzania, China, India, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Turkey, Turkminestan, The UAE, Belarus, and Russia all have laws outright banning or restricting (you know, not business but individuals [yes, they can do that]) VPN usage.
But it won't happen here! You can take that to the bank.
They're legally banned but that has not stopped the use of VPNs in the countries that tried to ban them, there are already multiple ways around the efforts to stop them.
Legally banned = electronics seized, fines, and jail time when they catch you circumventing it and decide they want to make an example out of you.
I'm sure that won't ever be used negatively or to target specific groups like investigative journalists and whistleblowers.
You not taking it seriously and trying to convince others to not take it seriously won't make a better outcome.
Very easy to write "except businesses" in legislation
If businesses are people then people are businesses.
Time to spin up a small business I guess
When do governments do anything clever when writing legislation or laws or whatever?
I know dude, literally everyone ignores this. Its like an ostrich putting it's head in the sand.
Them I am a business. Sorry pal.
Commercial VPNs are businesses too :)
"Watch dis shit" - Governments around the world
I mean, they could just require businesses to register their gateways. That's a pretty easy caveat to implement.
That sure didn't stop Russia from blanket banning VPNs.
They're not doing so great, but also, if someone really wants to use an encrypted connection there's ways around it even in places like Russia and China.
Ultimately the end goal is going to become using whitelists, as what some of the aforementioned countries have implemented/are implementing as we speak. Do not delude yourself into thinking that just because there will be at least some way to send a very short, lightweight message out into the world and receive a similarly small response while remaining undetected, then it has to mean that you as an everyday Joe will be able to browse yourfavourite.site as if it didn't get blocked. Stop this while you still can, don't count on incompetence or existing circumvention methods.
I am all for stopping it, but the politicians suggesting these bans have absolutely no idea what they're talking about or how damn near impossible it would be to actually accomplish: Fight it? Absolutely! It's stupid as hell and will be a complete waste of time and money.
It will 100% not stop anyone with even moderate technical ability, but yes, it should still be fought against.
You know they're banning foreign made consumer routers, right?
Didn't they just announce creation of whitelist for gov approved routers?