NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Cybersecurity experts believe a law meant to protect kids from adult websites, is causing a rise in VPN web searches. VPNs – short for Virtual Private Network – among other features, can help to mask a user’s IP address.
This week, a circuit court judge granted a stay allowing a law that would require pornographic websites to make users verify their age to watch adult content to go into effect.
Tennessee’s Protect Tennessee Minors Act is facing a battle in the court as organizations have sued the state, citing that requiring age verification to access adult websites is unconstitutional. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed a motion which was approved, making the law active, even while the law is in court.
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On Attorney General Skrmetti’s Facebook page, he wrote, “We’re glad that the unanimously-passed Protect Tennessee Minors Act remains in effect while this case proceeds…As the Court of Appeals noted, this law seeks to stem the flow of toxic content to kids and keep adult websites adults-only.”
Google Trends shows as soon as the law took effect, Tennessee became the #1 state for VPN searches.
“The way that VPNs work, they essentially function as a middleman for all the web traffic that you are doing on your computer,” Vanderbilt University Computer Science Professor David Hyde said.
Essentially, this means you can tell a website that you are outside of Tennessee to avoid the age verification requirement. VPNs are also a common business practice that allows companies added security.
Tennessee Tech University’s Cybersecurity Education, Research & Outreach Center Assistant Director Eric Brown believes VPNs are vital tools for cyber safety. However, he and Professor Hyde believe having a VPN is not necessary for most home internet connections.
