US Gov Continues Site Blocking Push: Should You Be Worried?

After more than a decade, the push for blocking websites in the United States is back, and it’s gaining support in Congress.

Lawmakers are now proposing rules that could force internet providers to block access to certain foreign websites, just like we saw with SOPA in 2012.

The new bill, called the Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act (FADPA), was introduced in February. If it becomes law, it would let courts order ISPs and public DNS providers to block entire domains accused of piracy.

But privacy groups warn this is much bigger than stopping piracy. It could open the door to large-scale government censorship.

The Return of the “Internet Kill Switch”?

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a longtime defender of internet freedom, says the bill gives too much power to private companies.

They fear a repeat of past mistakes—when legal websites were taken down just for being hosted on the same server as a so-called pirate site.

EFF says, “These new proposals would let rights holders get federal court orders forcing ISPs and DNS providers to block entire websites based on accusations of infringing copyright.” That means no trial, no appeal, and no warning—just a blocked site.

And it won’t stop there. Rightsholders are already pushing for even more. U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa is reportedly drafting another bill with similar goals. If both get traction, internet control could be handed over to a small group of industries and courts, with almost no oversight.

Blocking Doesn’t Even Work

Here’s what makes all this worse: the blocks don’t work. VPNs and alternate DNS services can get around them in seconds. Anyone who wants to access a site will still find a way. What these laws will do, though, is block innocent users and legitimate content.

We’ve already seen what happens in countries that use these tools. Entire platforms, like Google Drive and Cloudflare-linked sites, have been taken offline just because of one or two bad actors. This kind of “collateral damage” could become routine under U.S. site blocking rules.

EFF Warns of a Dark Path

This is about more than piracy. EFF believes these proposals are part of a bigger effort to build a system that allows private actors to control what Americans can and can’t access online.

“Site-blocking legislation is an attempt to build a new American censorship system,” said EFF’s Joe Mullin. He warns that these laws would allow rights holders to quietly shut down parts of the internet.

EFF is urging the public to speak out now. They’ve launched a campaign to contact Congress and stop these bills before they gain more traction. In their words: “Lawmakers need to hear—loud and clear—that Americans don’t support government-mandated internet censorship.”

Final Thoughts from Troy

We’ve seen this playbook before… Bad laws disguised as piracy solutions that actually threaten our rights. If we let these site-blocking bills move forward, we risk giving up far more than we gain.

If you’re concerned about privacy and censorship, using a reliable VPN is more important than ever. It can help protect your access to the open internet no matter what laws are passed.

For more information on this story, refer to the article from the EFF and the report from TorrentFreak.

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