As a NC resident, especially in IT, this is just dumb. Even the built-in VPN in Opera bypasses it. Any reasonably smart kid will figure it out. This is just theater.
I lived in NC for a little while myself. They're trying to bring the state into the future in the triangle area but their backwards government will not let it happen.
As a current NC resident, I concur. Roy Cooper is about the only thing standing in the way of the complete Republican domination in our house and senate. The triangle area is growing and developing at ludicrous speeds (Raleigh metro has grown 50% in less than 10 years), the tech industry has exploded, the cultural scene is rampant, but these goddamn pieces of cruel, lying, traitorous, backstabbing scumbags over on W Jones St. want to ban abortion, scrape away any remaining worker's rights, deny the LGBT community, lock up teachers, and worse. If it weren't for Cooper's veto and the Republicans only having a simple majority, we'd probably be floating with Florida in the cesspit seas.
I agree, your previous governor Pat McCrory (who I nicknamed MC Pee Pants due to his obsession with starting up a state bathroom police force and the show Aqua Teen Hunger Force) made himself and the state quite a laughingstock when he was in charge which (IMO) resulted in Cooper's election. That was back before companies had their current fatigue with "SJWs" and were actually willing to take actions when radical state governments were trying to institute weirdo, fascist anti-trans policies. I remember his "bathroom bill" did not go over well on the national stage and I think that had something to do with his defeat in 2016.
I'm pretty unsure about what will happen this election cycle though. 🙁
EDIT: Good luck to you guys, though. Hopefully, you keep sanity in the governor's mansion.