Stop KOSA
www.stopkosa.com
KOSA is a censorship bill that won’t make kids safe. Instead, it'll put all internet users at risk, especially youth. If you believe in a free and open internet, tell your lawmakers to reject #KOSA!

KOSA is a bill that aims to protect children online but it would do so in harmful ways. First, it would pressure platforms to install content filters that would censor large amounts of content, including important suicide prevention and LGBTQ+ support resources. Content filters have a history of overblocking important information. Second, KOSA would ramp up online surveillance of all users by expanding age verification and parental monitoring tools. These tools are unnecessarily invasive and pose risks to young people trying to escape abuse. Over 90 rights groups agree that KOSA is dangerous and cannot be fixed through amendments. If you value a free and open internet, contact your lawmakers to reject KOSA.

  •  swnt   ( @swnt@feddit.de ) 
    81•10 months ago

    protect children online

    I’ve yet to see any single new law proposal, that actually tackles this problem rather than misusing it’s emotional trigger to get acceptance for surveillance and control

    •  prole   ( @prole@beehaw.org ) 
      29•10 months ago

      Meanwhile… child labor protections? Who needs em? Protections against child marriage (or let’s call it what it is, rape)? They’ll be fine. God wills it, after all, and it’s in the Bible (or so they’re told, very few of them actually read it).

      Meanwhile, actual abuse is happening constantly in the Catholic (and others) church, and what do they do? Just shuffle 'em around a little bit. They “repented”, so that means we can leave him alone with kids in Montana now instead of New Mexico. Problem solved! Thank the lord!

      These fuckers have zero interest in actually protecting children, and for a good chunk of them, they’re actively working toward the exact opposite.

      •  CuriousGoo   ( @curiousgoo@beehaw.org ) 
        13•10 months ago

        I like the phrase “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

        KOSA is not the only thing one should be worried about, illiterates from UK are bringing in an Online Safety Bill which needs all services with encryption to provide a backdoor for the UK government under the reasoning of “monitoring for CSAM content”.

        This doesn’t just impact UK citizens, but will do for the world.

        If I recall correctly, Australia did something similar.

        Interesting to see how the 5-eyes try to push similar dumb ideas together.

        •  aeternum   ( @aeternum@kbin.social ) 
          6•10 months ago

          Australia did something recently, yes. It’s called the AA Bill. And it allows for the government to demand a worker put a backdoor in to an encryption product. The absolutely stupid thing is that if the government does this, the worker can’t tell a soul about it for fear of prison. If (when) it comes up in code review, they’re still not allowed to tell anyone. If they do, it’s straight off to prison. Where does it stop. I was hopeful that tech companies would abandon australia when this happened, but they didn’t. They just rolled over and took it up the arse pipe. Fucking hell. This is a good write up

          That’s not even mentioning what google is trying to do currently.

          •  TriStar   ( @tristar@lemmyfly.org ) English
            2•10 months ago

            What in the name of fuck is that bill. That’s one of the worst pieces of legislation I’ve seen in a longer while. Companies and open source communities will immediately catch that an employee is trying to sabotage their system on behalf of the government by means of code review and version control history. The programmer will be questioned, then likely fired or ostracized in case of open source works and the code will hit the bin. This idiotic… thing will accomplish nothing but harm their own citizens who will now be treated like potential therats and denied employment opportunities.

            On a funnier note, every time Australia introduces some horrible tech-related bill I remember this beautiful clip summarising just how well politicians understand technology.

      •  donut4ever   ( @donut4ever@lemm.ee ) 
        4•10 months ago

        Same here, overworked and underpaid, two kids. Neither has a smartphone nor has access to any social media site beside kids YouTube and Netflix. I meant kids shouldn’t be on social media, in my original comment. I always utilize the iPad for my daughter when I’m working or need her to sit so I can get shit done. My son, who’s the oldest, doesn’t have a phone yet. He has two gaming consoles, neither of them has online access for multiplayer. That’s what I mean by why are kids on the internet.

        •  Hot Saucerman   ( @dingus@lemmy.ml ) 
          4•10 months ago

          Not trying to dog on other parents, but just like when I was growing up a lot of parents either didn’t know/didn’t care what their kids were watching on TV, and didn’t make a lot of effort to control it. Many parents now are sadly similar in not paying attention to their kids’ internet habits.

          You’re being a good parent. I don’t know why other people struggle with this idea. In my opinion, you should just be proud of yourself and disappointed in other parents who don’t take the same measures.

          I will say those other parents make it difficult, though. My sister had to drop a lot of her parental controls eventually because her kids would go to friends’ houses with unrestricted internet access, and you just can’t control that. Even if you are involved with what your kids watch at home, once they are out of your eyesight and with other people, they can get access. Anyway, denying them access was causing more fights between her and her kids than it was worth. They saw that other kids had unrestricted access, and they wanted that, too. On the plus side, they were already 14 by this time, but still, it became a huge headache because other parents didn’t care.

          Anyway once again, good on you, mate. Keep being a thoughtful and involved parent, we need more of y’all.

          •  donut4ever   ( @donut4ever@lemm.ee ) 
            3•10 months ago

            Thank you. The key thing is that I didn’t make it “I’m your parent and I control your life”, no, I reasoned with him and explained to him whatever we do. I have built a very good friendship with my son that he trusts me when I do something for him. I’ll never make him feel that I control his life or what he does on the PC, I’ve just made him aware of things. Not gonna lie, though, we do have one strict rule, no social media of any kind. Also, I’m too lazy to type all of this again, but here is my response to another commenter when they asked if my kid has a social life in real life (basically, they were worried that I’m caging my kids lol).

            No, I have them both locked up in a cage in the middle of the Pacific ocean 😂 My friend, there is a whole world out there beside this virtual one (internet). My son goes outside all the time to play with his friends IN PERSON. Rides his bike with them, does sleep overs and whatever we did back in the day when we were kids. He just doesn’t have any social media accounts. I have a full Linux PC sitting in his bedroom that he can do whatever he wants on. I just make sure he’s safe on there. I have a firewall on there and an ad blocker on the browser. My daughter is special needs, so, that’s another story :)

          •  donut4ever   ( @donut4ever@lemm.ee ) 
            3•10 months ago

            No, I have them both locked up in a cage in the middle of the Pacific ocean 😂 My friend, there is a whole world out there beside this virtual one (internet). My son goes outside all the time to play with his friends IN PERSON. Rides his bike with them, does sleep overs and whatever we did back in the day when we were kids. He just doesn’t have any social media accounts. I have a full Linux PC sitting in his bedroom that he can do whatever he wants on. I just make sure he’s safe on there. I have a firewall on there and an ad blocker on the browser. My daughter is special needs, so, that’s another story :)

    •  argv_minus_one   ( @argv_minus_one@beehaw.org ) 
      6•10 months ago

      I was online as a child. It’s normal. Get used to it. Quit trying to break the Internet over it. Kids aren’t delicate little flowers. No one’s head exploded over seeing Lenna’s nipple. (Not their big head, anyway…)

  •  DontMakeMoreBabies   ( @DontMakeMoreBabies@kbin.social ) 
    15•10 months ago

    People need to take more responsibility for their kids - if you let them online, you’d better fucking understand what that entails and if not (gasp!) don’t let them on the internet.

    And if that’s impossible for someone then why the fuck did they reproduce in the first place?

  •  zerkrazus   ( @zerkrazus@kbin.social ) 
    9•10 months ago

    Same thing with banning books. This is fascist bullshit and it’s not about protecting children or anyone else. It’s about pushing their false Christianity, their christofascism on everyone whether they like it or not and trying to turn the country into a fascist “Christian” theocractic dictatorship where they can say and do whatever they want whenever they want about anything or anyone but no one else can.

    •  prole   ( @prole@beehaw.org ) 
      6•10 months ago

      I was with you til the “false” part. As someone who grew up in a sect that actually read the book, ain’t nothing false about this Christianity or these Christians.

      It’s inconvenient to admit, but the bible is an awful awful book.

      •  zerkrazus   ( @zerkrazus@kbin.social ) 
        2•10 months ago

        I have actually read it cover to cover as well. But just because something is written in a book doesn’t make it true. The genre of fiction exists. And the very concept of religion, all of them are made up. As in there was a time in the history of Earth where no religion existed. Dinosaurs didn’t have religion for example, and they came before humans, who created religion.

        Jesus, whom they claim to love/worship/etc., would be labeled a dirty commie/socialist by them for wanting to help the poor, sick, and needy. And for loving everyone. They hate Jesus. They worship supply side Jesus AKA Republican Jesus.

        •  prole   ( @prole@beehaw.org ) 
          2•10 months ago

          I think maybe you misread (looking back my comment wasn’t worded great). I don’t believe anything in the Bible is true.

          What I’m saying is that they are acting consistently with their faith. Jesus said a lot of some cool stuff, but it doesn’t erase all of the horrific shit that their god did before, and how their god tells them to act. And don’t forget their god is literally also Jesus. The guy who killed every first born Jew in Egypt (unless you performed a blood magick ritual), and ruined the life of his most faithful servant, killing his family in the process, just to make a point to “the devil”. The guy who almost made his #1 prophet murder his own son just for the lulz.

          That’s Jesus too. And any Christian who disagrees is a heretic.

          And no, Jesus didn’t “replace” the old law or whatever bullshit people like to tell themselves. The bible is very clear that those rules are still in place.

          Jesus himself said he was there to fulfill the law. Meaning the Old Testament. And that is problematic. He was literally ok with owning humans as property, and that it’s ok to beat them as long as you don’t kill them. Because they’re a thing that you own. That’s the law Jesus came to fulfill, and not once did he renounce a single word of it.

          “Oh but that was just the way things were then…” Yeah, so the son of God (who is also literally God) can’t say, oh I don’t know, “slavery is an abomination. You cannot own humans”? Didn’t want to cause trouble? Jesus, the guy super well known for staying in line and not rocking the boat 🙄.

          A book that would go on to be used as justification for chattal slavery in North America, and cause more pain and suffering than any of us could possibly imagine.

          People like to act like their bible doesn’t say this shit, and that folks like Westboro Baptist don’t follow the same book (when they actually follow it more closely). The reality is, Christianity is ugly stuff, and it’s wholly incompatible with a modern (peaceful) society.