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Hey all, this is BáiYù and Sauce here with something that isn't necessarily SnaccPop related, but it's important nonetheless. For those of you who follow US politics, The Kids Online Safety Act passed the Senate yesterday and is moving forward.
This is bad news for everyone on the internet, even outside of the USA.
While it's officially known as "The Kids Online Safety Act," KOSA is an internet censorship masquerading as another "protect the children" bill, much in the same way SESTA/FOSTA claimed that it would stop illegal sex trafficking but instead hurt sex workers and their safety. KOSA was originally introduced by Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass. and Bill Cassidy, R-La. as a way to update the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Act, raising the age of consent for data collection to 16 among other things. You can read the original press release of KOSA here, while you can read the full updated text of the bill on the official USA Congress website.
You can read the following articles about KOSA here:
EFF: The Kids Online Safety Act is Still A Huge Danger to Our Rights Online
CyberScoop: Children’s online safety bills clear Senate hurdle despite strong civil liberties pushback
TeenVogue: The Kids Online Safety Act Would Harm LGBTQ+ Youth, Restrict Access to Information and Community
The quick TL;DR:
KOSA authorizes an individual state attorneys general to decide what might harm minors
Websites will likely preemptively remove and ban content to avoid upsetting state attorneys generals (this will likely be topics such as abortion, queerness, feminism, sexual content, and others)
In order for a platform to know which users are minors, they'll require a more invasive age and personal data verification method
Parents will be granted more surveillance tools to see what their children are doing on the web
KOSA is supported by Christofascists and those seeking to harm the LGBTQ+ community
If a website holding personally identifying information and government documents is hacked, that's a major cybersecurity breach waiting to happen
You don't have to look far to see or hear about the violence being done to the neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ communities worldwide, who are oftentimes one and the same. Social media sites censoring discussion of these topics would stand to do even further harm to folks who lack access to local resources to understand themselves and the hardships they face; in addition, the fact that websites would likely store personally identifying information and government documents means the death of any notion of privacy.
Sex workers and those living in certain countries already are at risk of losing their ways of life, living in a reality where their online activities are closely surveilled; if KOSA officially becomes law, this will become a reality for many more people and endanger those at the fringes of society even worse than it already is.
I previously mentioned SESTA/FOSTA, which passed and became US law in 2018. This bill enabled many of the anti-adult content attitudes that many popular websites are taking these days as well as the tightening of restrictions laid down by payment processors. Companies and sites hosted in the USA have to follow US laws even if they're accessible worldwide, meaning that folks overseas suffer as well.
If you're a US citizen, contact your Senators and tell them that you oppose KOSA. This can be as an email, letter, or phone call that you make to your state Senator.
For resources on how to do so, view the following links:
https://www.badinternetbills.com/#kosa
https://www.stopkosa.com/
https://linktr.ee/stopkosa
If you live outside of the US or cannot vote, the best thing you can do is sign the petition at the Stop KOSA website, alert your US friends about what's happening, and raise some noise.
Above all else, don’t panic. By staying informed by what’s going on, you can prepare for the legal battles ahead.
hope is a skill
known for leaving places early
✅ Verified campaign – please check the end of the story 🔍📌
I'm Anas Basil, a recent high school graduate with dreams of pursuing a degree in e-business management and building a career. However, due to my family's financial hardships, I enrolled at Khan Younis Training College (KYTC), affiliated with UNRWA. Sadly, the war has turned the college, once a beacon of hope and education, into a shelter for displaced families, stripping it of its educational purpose.
I completed high school with a 93% average, filled with excitement about continuing my education and securing a job to support my family. But like so many others, the war has shattered those dreams.
My younger brother, Ahmad, is 14 years old and currently in the third grade of preparatory school. We’ve always called him "Doctor of the Future" because of his intelligence and natural talent in mathematics. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing war, he has been deprived of schooling for the second consecutive year. In addition to his academic abilities, Ahmad has a passion for football and used to win tournaments.
Our Life in Displacement: The war forced our family to flee to Rafah, where we lived in a tent for several months. Each day, my brother and I would wake up to fetch water, gather wood, and light a fire to prepare food. Survival became our daily task, but we never gave up hope. The conflict affected us deeply, but it did not extinguish our dreams of education and a better future.
We are seeking €29,000 to help Ahmed and me leave Gaza, continue our education. More importantly, it will allow us to support our family, who have been deeply affected by the harsh conditions and skyrocketing costs of living due to the ongoing war in Gaza.
We've outlined how your donations will make this possible. You can find all the details in the campaign link below.
Your contribution will not only help us escape the war-torn reality we live in but also give us the opportunity to rebuild our futures.
Every donation, no matter the amount, brings us one step closer to our goal.
With deepest gratitude, Anas & Ahmed
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