KOSA- Kids Online Safety Act
The meeting for this is happening THURSDAY JULY 27th 2023
TL;DR- It sucks and is harmful for LGBTQ+ Kids and harmful for adults and US citizens. It creates a backdoor for the government. Please call your senators to stop this from happening and please spread the word.
(Note: I'm bringing this up to spread awareness, I might not have the most perfect understanding of this bill and hell maybe I'm wrong about it. But this is what I understand so far. If you have more information feel free to rechost this with your input!)
This is a bill in the USA that 40 FUCKING SENATORS Support unfortunately. This bill will eventually lead to online users (meaning you!) to use their drivers license/I.D in order to use the internet. It is an act that makes websites responsible for children's safety online, and this means that the act could lead to states voting on banning children/teens from accessing educative resources on LGBTQ+ topics, sex ed, etc.
This could also lead to websites outright BANNING content like this, or lead to the shut down of websites that hold these platforms. It could lead to websites requiring that you give our your I.D to prove that you aren't a child in order to post online, which I'd argue fucks with your first amendment since it removes your privacy even more and could actually lead to your information being held hostage and you being blackmailed depending on what you use.
I mean honestly websites get hacked all the time, but I'd rather not have my I.D be connected to my private pages where I can shitpost freely and look at porn freely. Like shit man... I don't want people knowing my AO3 history.
Again, maybe I'm wrong or being paranoid, but apparently the meeting for this is happening THURSDAY JULY 27th 2023
Ok so here are some links to try and fight back on it.
• https://www.stopkosa.com/
• https://linktr.ee/stopkosa
• https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/kids-online-safety-act-still-huge-danger-our-rights-online
• https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/3663/text
when you call (or fax or email) your congressperson, the result is that you will get marked down in a spreadsheet as 1 person who made a call(/fax/email) and is for or against Thing. according to a former congressional staffer I know, the other thing that gets marked down is whether you used a script/form letter - a person using their own words is more likely to be a regular person and less likely to be part of a giant astroturfing phone bank.
so:
- if you call up your congressperson and make a well-reasoned and articulate argument against the X Act, you go down on the spreadsheet as "call, against X".
- if you call up your congressperson and say "hi. you shouldn't vote for the X Act. ok bye", you go down on the spreadsheet as "call, against X"
- if you email your congressperson a picture of a cat with a caption on it saying "this cat would be sad if you voted for the X Act", you go down on the spreadsheet as "email, against X"
- if you email your congressperson using the EFF's form letter, you get marked down on the spreadsheet as "form letter, against X", which is worth less than the picture of the cat with the caption on it
in conclusion: use your own words. don't worry about sounding smart or eloquent or convincing, because it doesn't matter all that much. just say what you have to say like a regular human being and you'll do fine!
Here is the complete text of the email I sent to my reps:
I'm writing to ask you to oppose the Kids Online Safety Act. It would prevent teenagers from having any privacy on the Internet.
To the congressional staffer reading this: I hope you have a nice day. Here's a picture of a kitten. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cucciolo_gatto_Bibo.jpg
Pros of this email:
- It's short
- It says, right away, what I want my congressperson to do
- I am asking for something specific
- The kitten is cute
in case that helps anyone figure out where they stand <3
the EFF gave a good analysis of it (linked above)
we've been lacking in energy to write much about it ourselves. because we are so low-spoons in general, our normal approach is to hold off if somebody else is already saying what we would, and just lend them our support. so if you're wondering why you haven't seen us do a close read of this one, or anything like that, that's why.
please don't mistake our quietness for a lack of anger and horror at what's happening.
surveillance and censorship are wrong, and are not compatible with a society based on the free exchange of ideas. people from marginalized backgrounds, including the queer community, are always the hardest hit by this stuff.
remember - good laws need to be principles that work well regardless of who's enforcing them and how that enforcement is slanted (many, many existing laws fail this test).
