That'd be great. And there's precedent, too: back in 2005 Microsoft dropped support for a Washington state gay rights bill but employee pressure led them to reverse their stance. But all the tech layoffs tend to have a chilling effect on employee advocacy, so we shall see.
Yep. There's money to be made here!
Great point. Mike Masnick has said that he wouldn't be surprised if Meta also comes out in support, for similar reasons.
From the article:
I'm using LGBTQIA2S+ as a shorthand for lesbian, gay, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, bi, trans, queer, intersex, asexual, agender, two-sprit, and others (including non-binary people) who are not straight, cis, and heteronormative. Julia Serrano's trans, gender, sexuality, and activism glossary has definitions for most of terms, and discusses the tensions between ever-growing and always incomplete acronyms and more abstract terms like "gender and sexual minorities". OACAS Library Guides' Two-spirit identities page goes into more detail on this often-overlooked intersectional aspect of non-cis identity.
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
Thanks for making the effort! On bills like this, enough pressure can make a difference -- we stopped KOSA from passing last year, and have a good chance this year as well.
Great point about editing the letter -- and calling is even better!
In terms of whether or not we'll be able to change it ... last year the broad pushback succeeded in stopping KOSA, and there's certainly a decent chance to do the same this year. Who knows, but as you say, it's always worth trying!
Quite true. EFF's article at https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/kids-online-safety-act-still-huge-danger-our-rights-online discusses some of the other problems with the bill.
Grassroots opposition has helped digital rights and privacy organizations stop bad internet bills from passing many times before, including some of these same bills just last year. Of course it is true that money talks and so deep pocketed companies and politicians have a lot more influence than we do, so cynicism is definitely warranted; and grassroots opposition doesn't always win.. But on bills like these, getting involved can make a difference.
#BadInternetBills
Agreed that the threat to free and clear access to the internet increases the chances of fascism coming to America. But there are plenty of Democrats who support these bills -- they all have bipartisan sponsorship. And more positively, he Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act -- a good privacy bill -- also has bipartisan sponsorship. So this is one of the rare issues that still cuts across party lines.
From the article: