This kind of nonsense is only mandated out of fear, but in reality it's not only colossally stupid, but also really difficult to enforce. Any proper business uses one. Anyone who wants privacy, and ad network anonymity uses one. There's plenty of other uses people would want one, obviously

I fear that the UK might try to join this list not just out of authoritarianism, but out of a fear of technology they do not understand. Worse yet, the Conservative party once threw around the idea of banning encryption in its entirety and acted like WhatsApp is only used by criminals.

I've taught my daughter to use a VPN here in the U.S. There's "Kids Online Safety Bill" making it through congress, and if it passes, kids won't be able to access all kinds of websites. Porn, yes, but also just websites about LGBT+ stuff which are perfectly safe for kids. As I have a queer daughter, I want to make absolutely sure she can access those sites if she needs them.

Russia isn't prohibiting the use of VPNs but it is making it increasingly more headache inducing (protocol based blocking, ip bans of popular vpn providers).

It's not just France, it's EU based politics too. There's certain liberal & center right parties & politicians that heavily push for shit like this, just like the chat control crap.

It's not a total ban of VPNs, I went to read a bit on the subject (easier since I'm french), it's just that some politicians came up with a few amendments relative to the bill called "SREN" which very literally translates to "Securing and regulating the digital space". As you may guess that bill also ticks the "child porn" box as a reason why it came to existence.

One amendment proposes to ban mobile VPNs that do no comply with European or french regulations in the context of app stores. So it's only on mobile, nothing about desktops.

Of course it's inapplicable in practice.

Several amendements already failed due to backlash, one was about preventing people from posting on social networks if they use a VPN.

I love our slow descent into authoritarianism with a hint of fascism to go with it.

The UK also recently tried banning VPNs. It simply isn't possible. However, it'll make prosecuting dissidents and people with good opsec a lot easier because they can just say "well you might not have anything incriminating on your hard drives but you DO have a VPN client" and use that to get a tiny victory against someone who would otherwise go free.

Le smooth brain

What a great ~~club~~ list to be a part of

If all VPNs are banned, french companies are fucked. Any remote login happens via VPN.

I just wonder how the hell they plan on enforcing things like this

Doesn't Iran prohibit vpns?