Call Congress to Stop KOSA (US focused)
Call Congress to Stop KOSA (US focused)
The Senate may have a simple voice vote in the next week to move the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) quickly through the legislature, without debate, but any one senator can stop it with a hold. We need you to call your senator's office today to tell them to stop KOSA. KOSA would censor the internet a...
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/7548971
The Senate may have a simple voice vote in the next week to move the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) quickly through the legislature, without debate, but any one senator can stop it with a hold. We need you to call your senator's office today to tell them to stop KOSA. KOSA would censor the internet and would make government officials the arbiters of what young people can see online, and would likely lead to age verification.
Just last week more than 70 LGBTQ+ organizations came out against this dangerous and misguided bill, which would make kids less safe rather than more safe and especially harm LGBTQ+ youth. So it's crucial to stop it from moving forward!
EFF's page makes it easy to call your Senators; or, https://www.stopkosa.com/ makes it easy to send a letter (and find out more about the bill).
Unfortunately my senator is the traitorous Sinema, so she’s worse than useless. Just got an email from her rationalizing this power grab today after writing her and asking she not support it a few months back. 🙄
Oh well, thanks for trying.
Where are the actual examples of how it would hurt kids?
From https://www.stopkosa.com/
First, KOSA would pressure platforms to install filters that would wipe the net of anything deemed “inappropriate” for minors. This = instructing platforms to censor, plain and simple. Places that already use content filters have restricted important information about suicide prevention and LGBTQ+ support groups, and KOSA would spread this kind of censorship to every corner of the internet. It’s no surprise that anti-rights zealots are excited about KOSA: it would let them shut down websites that cover topics like race, gender, and sexuality.
Second, KOSA would ramp up the online surveillance of all internet users by expanding the use of age verification and parental monitoring tools. Not only are these tools needlessly invasive, they’re a massive safety risk for young people who could be trying to escape domestic violence and abuse.
Here's more on how the Heritage Foundation says they'll use it to censor LGBTQ content, and about how KOSA denies young people freedoms of expression and privacy