Internet Freedom Weekly: News Recap, September 1–4, 2026
A week of new lines being drawn around VPNs, platforms, and even maps. Utah's SB 73 became the first US law to fold VPN use directly into age-verification liability. The EU designated ChatGPT, Reddit, and Roblox under its toughest platform rules, adding an AI system to the list for the first time. Messaging apps kept doing triple duty as infrastructure, political target, and evidence locker, often within the same government's reach. Norway floated banning "pervert glasses" over covert surveillance concerns, and Google renamed a Great Lake for US users the same weekend a president asked it to.
Utah's VPN-Targeting Age Verification Law Is Live
Utah's Senate Bill 73 took effect September 3rd as the first US law that explicitly targets VPN use in age verification, holding adult sites liable for verifying anyone physically in Utah regardless of IP address. Platforms are also now barred from telling users how to bypass the checks with a VPN.
The EFF calls the VPN detection requirement "technical whack-a-mole" and flagged the speech ban as a First Amendment problem, since no reliable way to detect VPN traffic at scale actually exists. At least 26 states are watching how this test case plays out in court.
EU Brings ChatGPT, Reddit, and Roblox Under Its Toughest Digital Rules
The European Commission designated ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine and Reddit and Roblox as Very Large Online Platforms under the Digital Services Act on August 31st, after all three confirmed reaching 45 million monthly EU users.
The three now have until January 2027 to assess and mitigate systemic risks to minors, mental wellbeing, and elections, joining 28 total designated services now facing this level of Commission scrutiny.
Your Messaging App Is Three Things at Once Now
Messaging apps have quietly become critical infrastructure, a political target, and a data source simultaneously. Platform blocks hit a record 94 documented cases across 40 countries in 2025, with Togo, Sudan, Nepal, and Russia all cutting access this year alone.
Even unblocked apps hand over user data at scale through legal requests, and what a platform can disclose depends entirely on what it stores, making encryption choices and retention policies matter more than most users realize.
"Pervert Glasses": Norway Moves to Regulate Camera Wearables
Norway's digital minister Karianne Tung is considering regulating or banning camera-enabled smart glasses from Meta and Snap, citing covert surveillance risks in public spaces, and may specifically target facial recognition of bystanders.
The move follows Germany's HateAid filing a criminal complaint against Meta, Ray-Ban, and Oakley in August, with an EU-level regulatory report on smart glasses also due. Meta's defense in both cases rests on an LED light most people don't recognize as a privacy notice.
What Happens When Governments Pressure Platforms to Change What the Map Says
President Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America after trade talks with Canada collapsed, and Google complied for US-based users within days. Apple is now being pressured directly to follow.
MapQuest refused, said so publicly, and briefly became Canada's top free app download as a result. Google shows three different names depending on the viewer's location, a live demonstration that what a map says is a compliance decision, not a neutral fact.
Be part of the resistance, quietly.
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Gintarė is a cybersecurity writer at Mysterium VPN, where she explores online privacy, VPN technology, and the latest digital threats in editorial pieces. With hands-on experience researching and writing about data protection and digital freedom, Gintarė makes complex security topics accessible and actionable.
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