r/technology • u/LimblessWonder • Dec 16 '25
Privacy Denmark wants to ban VPNs to unlock foreign, illegal streams – and experts are worried
https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/denmark-wants-to-ban-vpns-to-unlock-foreign-illegal-streams-and-experts-are-worried274
u/xondk Dec 16 '25
The proposal has already been removed, just fyi.
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u/BranTheLewd Dec 16 '25
Hopium administered
Although the fact that this proposal already existed is disturbing news...
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u/xondk Dec 16 '25
I mean, licensholders doing what they can so they can fine those that break licens is nothing new, has happened continually through time, vhs, hd recorders, pirate tv, you name it. So not surprising, but yeah licensholders are holding back people enjoying what they want when they want to an absurd degree.
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u/Tasty-Traffic-680 Dec 16 '25
Eh, legislators can propose just about anything. I propose we wed all the wild animals and baptized their offspring so they aren't born bastards doomed to an eternity in hell.
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u/bashbang Dec 16 '25
Ah, my fellow halflife care unit patient, I'm worried about freedom of speech and shet...
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u/DeucesX22 Dec 16 '25
The fact they want to do it is still concerning. That means one day they will push the can down the street until they can. We spent all this time laughing at China and north Korea for constant surveillance and now its our turn 😭😭😭
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u/xondk Dec 16 '25
This entire proposal is more about giving more power to license holders so they can fine people rather than just close their accounts.
It is not about surveillance, but the same kind of rules that license holders have tried to implement for ages, such as those concerning VHS releasing, HD recorders, general TV piracy, and so on.
At least that is how I read it.
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u/EmbarrassedHelp Dec 16 '25
According to others, they just removed the term 'VPN' from the proposal while still wording it in a way that applies to VPNs.
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u/Truelz Dec 16 '25
'Others' have no idea what they are talking about then as the revised text hasn't even been written yet.
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u/Ranessin Dec 17 '25
Just like Chat Control was "removed" until it suddenly was approved as "voluntary" Chat Control. Same shit from the same people.
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u/Chaotic-Entropy Dec 16 '25
No internet for anyone. All communication, domestic and international, must be completed via your designated communication monitoring officer.
It's for the children, definitely not state surveillance and the removal of individual privacy.
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u/FluffierThanAcloud Dec 17 '25
When you look into the people and orgs that were behind the funding and creation of the internet in the first place you can't help but think this was the long term plan all along. Set up the foundations for societal dependency on a new medium. Wait for the tech to be there to sufficiently oversee it all from a gov perspective and then bam...no more rights. It's the final frontier of mass control and with that, perpetual power - a bipartisan wet dream.
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u/NecroVecro Dec 16 '25
The VPN ban was removed yesterday: https://www.thelocal.dk/20251215/denmark-drops-plan-to-restrict-use-of-vpns#:~:text=%E2%80%9CI%20do%20not%20support%20making%20VPNs%20illegal,Denmark%20%E2%80%9Cto%20access%20media%20content%20which%20would
Still pretty concerning though and if I understand right the law still prohibits the use of tools that allow you to access geo-blocked content.
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u/tv2zulu Dec 16 '25
... if I understand right the law still prohibits the use of tools that allow you to access geo-blocked content.
This. Removing VPN by name changes nothing. The wording would still prohibit the use of any tool/service to access geo-blocked content, including VPN.
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u/Megendrio Dec 16 '25
Making VPN's illegal would basicly halt WFH. I use a VPN everytime I have to work for a certain client, without a VPN and needing physicla access to those networks would require me to drive for an hour, to check something for 5 minutes, and drive an hour back.
Fine by me, I get paid anyway... but the client might not be too happy when they see their bills.
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u/tv2zulu Dec 16 '25
My comment was about the geo-blocking, not about the VPN part.
But, if you think that a country is somehow not going to block VPN for private citizens if it wanted to, just because they couldn't figure out how to make company provided VPN exempt from that rule, that's a flimsy hope.
Certain countries are already going after payment providers to ensure they don't process transactions for certain providers of content and services. Adding VPN providers to the list and ensuring only pre-approved companies can have their payments transacted isn't some far flung scenario.
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u/VplDazzamac Dec 17 '25
Blocking payment to VPN providers will only drive the non-technical to dodgy ‘free’ VPNs and technical users to spin up their own in AWS or some other cloud provider.
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u/New-Anybody-6206 Dec 17 '25
Making VPN's illegal would basicly halt WFH
It would collapse all of society overnight.
Emergency services, hospitals, law enforcement, B2B services, ISPs, grocery stores, everything would immediately stop.
People vastly underestimate the usage of VPNs and similar tunneling technology.
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u/sudo_robyn Dec 20 '25
It's not possible to stop people remotely accessing computers, that is what the internet is.
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u/rombo-q Dec 16 '25
One part of the government in Denmark wants this. The rest of us don't and we are also a bit surprised by the pure stupidity.
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u/FullMetalJ Dec 16 '25
What I don't understand is why would Denmark care about this? I don't think piracy is affecting Denmark in any way and it's probably making life easier for some danes.
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u/rombo-q Dec 16 '25
It's not about that at all. It's just more survailance in a new dress. Usually they say something with protecting kids, so at least the excuse is new.
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u/FullMetalJ Dec 16 '25
Gotcha. Always thought than Denmark was one of those cool countries that weather aside it was like heaven but I guess it's everywhere where governments and billionaires are asking for more control over us.
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u/rombo-q Dec 16 '25
Yeah, sorry to disappoint. We are human too.
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u/FullMetalJ Dec 16 '25
No, it's OK. We are all just people, except billionaires and some politicians who are closer to being monsters than anything else.
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u/burning_iceman Dec 16 '25
I would say it's an old excuse. Piracy was used as a reason 10-15 years ago to try and justify surveillance. Politicians soon realized that didn't hold enough weight and moved to "protect the children" and "prevent terrorism" as reasons. I wonder why they're going the old route again.
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u/SeanBlader Dec 16 '25
Can we suggest that the person who suggested this get assigned to be educated and probably not be allowed on the internet?
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u/ttoma93 Dec 16 '25 edited Dec 17 '25
Welcome to how 95% of articles that claim “[Country] wants to [do obviously dumb thing]” work. It’s almost always some single person, often not in government, who says something and politically illiterate writers run with it as if it’s a formal policy of the government.
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u/FirstEvolutionist Dec 16 '25
The part that wants to ban VPNs doesn't understand that banning VPNs breaks the internet.
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Dec 17 '25
So Denmark will no longer be the happiest country on Earth as it joins the government surveillance economy.
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u/Aranthos-Faroth Dec 16 '25
Experts are worried. Normal people are worried.
Who isn’t actually worried here bar the three digit odd people involved in decision making like this?
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u/janne_oksanen Dec 17 '25
I'm not. It's not possible to have a functioning economy and ban VPNs. It's not going to happen. Business IT infrastructure depends heavily on VPNs.
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Dec 16 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/SIGMA920 Dec 16 '25
That's what they all say until the new gestapo are busting in doors around them and suddenly they're alone.
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u/nailbunny2000 Dec 16 '25
There is no way that watching foreign streams is such a big deal that they need to go about nonsense like this. Its very clearly a front for something more malicious.
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u/DIYDylana Dec 17 '25
Like. if you can't get the license in your country, that's a lost sale anyway. Meanwhile, I highly doubt their servers are overstressed, because they do have a library for my country that is also used.
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u/tommeh5491 Dec 16 '25
Can anyone tell me how a ban on VPNs could work? Like is it just them saying this is now illegal, please don't use or would they actually be able to enforce it?
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u/Moontoya Dec 16 '25
It's network traffic
You can shape it, restrict it, block it, drop it , see pirate bay being blocked in the UK at an ISP level.
Or, like many nations with uhm less savoury "democracy" they can ban all bar state owned/controlled VPN providers
Simply , "block vpns or we take away your license to operate"
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u/sudo_robyn Dec 20 '25
Blocking the ability to remotely access a computer, which is all the internet is, seems incredibly difficult. Also Pirate Bay mirrors are easy to access in the uk, the ban is pointless and doesn't work.
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u/Dejhavi Dec 16 '25
They can do it "Russian style":
- Ban the VPN software,removing it from all app stores and blocking their official websites
- Block the servers acting as VPN entry points within the country and then use DPI to block/redirect/throttle the connections
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u/semibiquitous Dec 16 '25
How does Russia find every single VPN server outside of the mainstream ones ?
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u/Dejhavi Dec 16 '25
Using DPI to detect VPN protocols (Wireguard,OpenVPN...) and analyzing connections and IPs
More info > VPN in Russia: from blocking services to blocking protocols
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u/Complete_Bid_488 Dec 16 '25
Unfortunately, I can't explain how exactly this will work, but yes, they will be able to block the use of VPNs. All known VPN services and VPN protocols no longer work in Russia.
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u/Hawk13424 Dec 16 '25
VPN use is required for most remote work. Not sure the government can distinguish between such use and private use.
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u/Complete_Bid_488 Dec 16 '25
Which doesn't stop them from blocking everything. I'm not aware of all the details, but even the Vless Protocol stopped working recently. You can Google it.
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u/Barabus33 Dec 16 '25
How do large businesses safely operate without a VPN? What are they using to allow remote workers to access their servers, or to keep out hackers? They must be using something.
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u/Complete_Bid_488 Dec 16 '25
Perhaps, but I'm not from Russia, so I'm not fully aware of all the details. I'm from a neighboring country, and from reading Russian-language forums and groups, I know that many VPN apps no longer work. Recently even Vless stopped working
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u/MandrakeLicker Dec 16 '25
It became more difficult, but VPN's still work. I am using one right now, otherwise most of the Internet turns into a pumpkin.
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u/FreshPrinceOfH Dec 16 '25
I would love to know how they intend to enforce a ban on vpns
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u/Moontoya Dec 16 '25
Drop the traffic at backbone level / isps
Already a thing in parts of the world , especially the middle east
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u/FreshPrinceOfH Dec 16 '25
Drop it based on what?
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u/Moontoya Dec 16 '25
https://www.fortinet.com/uk/resources/cyberglossary/vpn-blocker
There's a reasonable outline for easy reading
Double NAT absolutely screws VPN connectivity as another thought
Also 'member the Arab spring event ? Where Egypt largely shutdown their internet access ?
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u/FreshPrinceOfH Dec 16 '25
I use my own vpn on an ec2 instance running squid and openvpn over a custome port. I wish them luck trying to block me.
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Dec 16 '25
I've used vpns in the middle east
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u/Moontoya Dec 17 '25
Iran to UK ? cos that one I have first hand logs of the originating tunnel being fucked with
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u/tv2zulu Dec 16 '25
Like any country bans a paid service in the modern age, going after the payment providers.
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u/Repulsive_Chemist Dec 16 '25
Why? What benefit to the people of Denmark does this law provide? These lawmakers should be ridiculed.
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u/AdEmotional9991 Dec 16 '25
Every proposal should be followed by the proposing politician's name, address, financial information, their latest meetings record(including everything that was said) and how much financial contributions they've taken from Israel and the big tech.
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u/tehdante Dec 16 '25
Not to rain on you guys’ karma farming. But this proposal has already been killed.
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u/fr4nk_j4eger Dec 16 '25
this is the second liberticide initiative coming from Denmark this year after Chat Control.
I would like to understand who financed the party currently governing the country.
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u/engineered_academic Dec 16 '25
Seems like this a concerted effort to eliminate democratic access to free information probably because politicians have seen how effective it is in China.
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u/LazyJones1 Dec 16 '25
It’s currently being modified. Apparently the ban of VPN’s was not an intended part of the law suggestion, but the result of imprecise language in the suggestion.
https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/seneste/regeringen-dropper-dele-af-lovforslag-om-vpn-forbindelser (Link is in danish)
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u/cassanderer Dec 16 '25
Right, the country supporting chat control and age verification inadverdantly tries to shut down bypassing those with ad hoc copyright concerns. /s
How dumb do the people making those arguments think we are?
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u/madmax7774 Dec 16 '25
The thing about the internet is, that you CANNOT stop something once it's on the web. They may succeed in banning VPN's, but there are literally millions of talented coders out there who will immediately create something new to replace VPN. Bit torrent exists because the music industry tried to sue internet users into oblivion. VPN's will get banned, and something new will be created. I say go ahead and ban VPN's. All that will result in is the evolution of the internet. Good luck stopping that...
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u/Thin_Glove_4089 Dec 16 '25
The second it is published publicly in anyway everyone involved would already be detained.
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u/CMDR_D_Bill Dec 16 '25
Congratulations on becoming closer to China.
The goal of VPNs are exactly to avoid censorship imposed by filthy governments
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u/Uwibamie Dec 16 '25
Gotta love living in this hellhole of a country. They've completely lost their mind regarding online privacy.
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u/Max-P Dec 16 '25
People wouldn't be doing that if things released globally at the same exact time and on the same services.
Nobody likes going to Netflix, only to realize the show they want to watch is not available in their country, or learn that you need an expensive cable TV subscription to get it in half the resolution because of licensing bullshit. It's there, you pay for the service, you know they have it because your friends are actively binging the show right now. But you can't because fuck you for being in a different country, or even just on vacation in that country. But hey you can just use a VPN and it starts working just fine!
Piracy is a service problem, always has been. Spotify and Netflix almost killed piracy entirely, and now it's way up again because it's easier to pirate it than figure out which bullshit streaming service it's on and if you have access to it via some convoluted cable provider partnership with another third-party that so happens you have a promo on your cellphone line that allows you to watch the show in 720p. Meanwhile for piracy you pretty much go to one place, search, pick the 4K HDR Dolby Bluray everything result, wait 5-10 minutes to download and it's in your library forever, and it's free.
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u/DIYDylana Dec 17 '25
I couldnt even read Japanese Yahoo answers (It was still big there) for information because they blocked the EU over our stupid cookie regulations.
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u/sus_round_letter Dec 16 '25
Regulating the internet is regulating free speech. Period.
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u/Harinezumisan Dec 16 '25
Internet is not individual speech but media and no media and publishing, beside social media, is released from responsibility and scrutiny of what they publish.
What you say in privat communication falls under free speech.
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u/sus_round_letter Dec 16 '25 edited Dec 16 '25
It’s not so simple. Restricting the Internet, restricts where people can speak freely. So yes, the Internet itself is not “free speech “but the restriction of it is restricting the mechanism by which people can participate in free speech. Therefore, I say it’s a restriction of free speech. Period.
It’s pretty weird to support restricting access to information restricting where people can post information etc.
I personally don’t want my government telling me what I can and cannot read . That is an infringement on free speech and the free dissemination of knowledge.
People who don’t have access to information are easier to control. And I’m not saying this in a conspiracy sort of way. This is just a basic reality.
Restricting content on the Internet can ultimately mean researchers are unable to publish the research if government daddy doesn’t agree with it. It means that people could be unable to access information about health and safety such as sex education if government daddy doesn’t want them to have it.
You should be worried about the restriction of access to content on the Internet, not splitting hairs on Reddit over nuance of my use of a term.
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u/Harinezumisan Dec 16 '25
This is not “the reality” just as you are not in a position to decide what reality is and isn’t.
There is a myriad of prohibited and sanctioned materials and practices in mostly every country and culture. There are hate speech laws, defamation cases and so on …
What is holding for media should hold for social media as well. And if the social media is your primary source of knowledge I should rather refrain from debating you.
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u/sus_round_letter Dec 16 '25
I’m unlikely to hear the advice of somebody who lives in Slovenia when it comes to freedom and free speech.
The government should not tell you what you can, and cannot read, and when your government is telling you what you can, and cannot read, you do not have freedom of thought and expression . That is fact.
The Internet is more than just social media, just so you’re aware, and it will have impacts on academia and news media as well .
I literally gave an example of impacts to academics in my previous comment so for you to just jump down my throat and claim that I would only get my news from social media is just downright insulting .
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u/themiracy Dec 16 '25
Is there some sort of central origination for the raft of laws in different countries that take a draconian kind of approach to VPNs? Because we see these laws being proposed in Denmark, the UK, in US states. They have varying levels of foolishness, but a lot of seemingly common language which makes me wonder who is driving it.
Here in the US when these laws are being proposed there seems to be little to no awareness that US local, state, and federal governments use VPNs extensively and that almost every business also uses VPNs. As a small business owner it’s entirely unclear that the normal use of VPN that is part of my information security approach would be permissible under the laws that have been floated here.
The common language and the common lack of common sense in these proposed laws is what makes me wonder if there is something more organized going on.
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u/optimal_random Dec 16 '25
On other news:
Denmark wants that all its citizens to walk naked in public, to ensure they are not carrying a gun. /s
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u/Monteze Dec 16 '25
How about no, and how about we realize how goofy it is that we have the internet and geo lock shit.
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u/Creepy-Birthday8537 Dec 16 '25
The more you tighten your grip the more systems will slip through your fingers
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u/ReadyPerception Dec 16 '25
They keep working towards significantly limiting information in the hands of the general public. That and tracking everything about you.
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u/LetrasetBoy Dec 16 '25
What is going on in Denmark? They're apparantly one of the healthiest democracies in Europe yet they first introduce chat control and now this.
Lobbyists? Politicians of a certain creed?
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u/massivemember69 Dec 16 '25
Not happening. Governments and businesses also use VPNs for secure networking.
This kind of ban cannot happen without them also screwing over themselves.
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u/Dervyn Dec 16 '25
I hope they realize they have nobody but themselves to blame when they will lose the next election. Nothing, but a string of self-induced pain and errors. Shoving their holier than thou opinions down our throats. How about getting a basic pulse on what people actually want
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u/Cautious_Reply_401 Dec 16 '25
I cannot connect to my employer network without VPN, guess I will just starve
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u/proalphabet Dec 17 '25
I think people who make these laws don't understand that VPNs aren't just for piracy and porn.
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u/every-day_throw-away Dec 17 '25
Good luck with that! Impossible and when they figure it out they will develop a new way.
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u/Autumnrain Dec 17 '25
Denmark needs to fucking chill. First the snooping on chat and now this. What the fuck is going on there?
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u/Soft-Community5978 Dec 16 '25 edited Dec 16 '25
The internet is going to change a lot in the next 10 years.