AS OF FEBRUARY 21ST, 2024, WE GOT FIVE DAYS UNTIL THE DAY OF DECISION OF THE KOSA BILL, WHICH WILL CAUSE MASS CENSORSHIP ROUND THE INTERNET IF PASSED. WE NEED EVERYONE TO KNOW ABOUT THIS AND CONTRIBUTE. I'M NOT GIVING UP ON YOU ALL.
(IMPORTANT UPDATE: Kosa will not necessarily pass on the 26th. It only has the support to pass in Senate, and we STILL HAVE TIME. That being said, time is of the essence.)
WE'RE DOWN TO THE WIRE BUT WE CAN'T GIVE UP YET. IF WE GIVE UP, EVERYTHING IS OVER. IF WE DON'T, AT LEAST WE HAVE A CHANCE.
I'M THE ONE WHO SOUNDED THE ALARM, AND I'M NOT GOING TO CURL UP AND DIE YET.
Reblog this post in every LEGAL way you can under the Tumblr guidelines with the appropriate tags. TELL AND TAG EVERYONE YOU KNOW, then add the tags to see below... and more if you can think of any complying.
Visit badinternetbills.com if you want to find a way to defeat KOSA. It WILL NOT take much of your time. Reblog with any other information or sources, too-- but make sure to reblog if you can.
Reblog if you support lgbtq+ content.
Reblog if you support questioning queer youth and/or abused youth getting the information they need.
Reblog if you support Ao3 and/or other sites that wholeheartedly preserve talentedly made media.
Reblog if you're going to repost this on other sites than Tumblr and spread the word across Twitter, Tik Tok, Pinterest, or elsewhere, alongside the link to badinternetbills.com.
Reblog if you think KOSA is unfair and shouldn't be anyone's problem -- including the adults ALL OVER THE DAMN EARTH forced to face the mass censorship it causes because "think of the American Children!".
Reblog if you support internet activism and Palestine.
Reblog if you hate fascism or censorship, and don't want actually serious and helpful conversations censored on the internet.
Reblog if you value the internet in any way at all whatsoever.
CHECK THIS PETITION, TOO! https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-kosa?recruiter=1331807538&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=sms&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf&recruited_by_id=57368c40-d0fd-11ee-98f7-2175430f819f&share_bandit_exp=initial-36809664-en-US
(Also, please reblog with at least "stop kosa" as a tag and not "kosa". I made the mistake of not adding just "kosa" as a tag...)
We won't let this stand any longer. Let's start a riot and get this trending.
As of now, Florida and Kansas have passed bills that align with KOSA.
So many people have held back on speaking out against KOSA or signing petitions because "it probably won't pass." But we have proof that it very well can and will.
So what can we do right now?
The same thing we've been doing: bring awareness and protest.
Here are a few websites you can visit to sign petitions:
“KOSA wont pass, it got rejected the last two times!”
It wasn’t passed because people spoke out against it. People called and emailed their senators. So, CALL / EMAIL YOUR SENATORS. MAKE IT KNOWN THAT WE DO NOT WANT THIS BILL TO PASS!
“But its unconstitutional-“ There’ve been multiple bills passed before that are unconstitutional. This will not be any different to them, they do not care.
So apparently KOSA (2024 edition) is getting either thrown out until next year or put into effect in six days. That was a guesstimate based on a different person saying that's when Congress is back in session and may be false.
Update that's going in the main post at the top: it has enough support to pass Congress.
It failed the last two times because people were voting against it.
This time, KOSA has traction among the pro-LGBTQ parties. Because nobody is fucking calling their bullshit and screaming from the rooftops that calling it the "Kids Online Safety Act" is misleading.
What will it passing do?
Nothing much, only prevent any education on LGBTQIA+ (it's that stupid fucking argument about us grooming kids again), shut down nearly every fandom space on the internet, and make it required for most big tech companies to have your ID.
Want to have resources for kids to discover their identity readily available? Yes? Then fucking speak up against this stupid fucking bill.
Fandom spaces like Tumblr, Twitter (? I thought the MAGA assholes liked Musk?), Tiktok, Archive Of Our Own, and any other website that hosts fanfic or fanart? Either shut down permanently, forced to uproot to a different country and down for a while (best case scenario, and they likely won't be able to send any data, and therefore fanfics, to the US), or gutted so that you only get to put G rated cishet ships on there, if any shipping at all. How to avoid that? I've already said it: Call your fucking representatives.
Want to avoid the fucking dystopic task of being legally obligated to give big tech your government issue ID? Again, cause an uproar. Call your goddamned representatives.
If they can pass this, the ripple effects could be catastrophic.
So, for fuck's sake, any Americans that can impact this stupid fucking bill and see this? Do everything in your power to shut it down because you have until February twenty sixth (26th) to send this bill back to where it belongs.
And if you can't do that? Reblog, copy my tags, and boost the signal.
Sorry not sorry for ranting, making you scroll through that, and swearing a probably excessive amount, but KOSA is a bill with a GLOBAL IMPACT being passed by ONE COUNTRY because some old people are scared of two guys with who were told they were girls kissing within five hundred miles of a child. Fuck this shit, I shouldn't have to worry about bad bills in America but I fucking do because I use the internet and would like to avoid mass censorship. Fuck this, fuck conservatives, and fuck the fact that some boomers make your country's policies.
Now, if you won't mind me, I'm going to be up until three in the morning downloading fanfiction or copying and pasting them into a a text file if I can't so I can read them by the end of the week.
Sadly, it is true that today, 04/10/2024, KOSA has been introduced to the House BUT! That doesn’t mean it’s game over just yet!
Proof:
Friendly reminder that there is much less support for KOSA in the House than the Senate. And even if it does pass the House—God forbid, it’s not over until the President signs it.
Here is the phone number for the Committee that’ll be holding the hearing on April 17th (Use the top number), and of course keep calling your Senators & House Representative.
I know this is scary for a lot of people, but we have to keep fighting. Please spread this around & don’t give up!
WE ONLY HAVE A FEW DAYS UNTIL KOSA IS DETERMINED. THERE IS A HUGE AUDIENCE OF PEOPLE TRYING TO PASS THIS BILL, BUT THE INTERNET IS BIGGER!
WE NEED ALL THE SUPPORT WE CAN GET.
CALL REPRESENTATIVES, TELL FAMILY, FRIENDS, MOOTS, LITERALLY EVERYONE YOU CAN.
IF THE BILL PASSES, THE INTERNET WILL BE CHANGED AS WE KNOW IT. IT WILL NOT MATTER IF YOU ARE OUT OF THE US. MANY FANDOM SPACES ARE IN AMERICAN DOMAIN.
YOU WILL NOT BE SAFE FROM USING A DIFFERENT EMAIL, ACCOUNT, ANYTHING. STOP BELIEVING THAT. THIS BILL WANTS CONTROL AS FAR BACK AS TRACING US BACK TO NAMES, AGES, GOVERNMENT IDS AND LICENSE PLATES.
YOU WILL NOT BE SAFE BECAUSE, “OH THIS BILL CAN’T PASS IT VIOLATES THE 1ST AMENDMENT!”. THEY HAVE PASSED UNCONSTITUTIONAL BILLS. YOU WILL NOT BE SAFE BECAUSE “OH, THIS BILL HASN’T PASSED FOR 2 YEARS!” THEY ARE AGGRAVATED. THEY ARE PUSHING FOR THIS BILL.
DO NOT FORGET KOSA MERELY BECAUSE A LACK OF UPDATES. I NEED YOU TO SIGN PETITIONS, CALL REPRESENTATIVES. DONT FORGET. I WANT YOU TO MAKE AS MUCH NOISE ABOUT KOSA POSSIBLE. DO NOT. FORGET. WE HAD THE TIME TO KEEP TALKING ABOUT KOSA, AND YET WE FORGOT BECAUSE OF A LACK OF UPDATES. THAT BRIEF TIME WAS NOT A COOLDOWN PERIOD. IT WAS A TIME TO KEEP KOSA TRENDING.
STOP GOING ON TIKTOK, COMMENTING “B00ST” AND THEN CALLING IT A DAY. YES THAT HELPS, BUT YOU NEED TO DO WHAT 90% OF THESE VIDEOS WANT YOU TO DO. SIGN PETITIONS. CALL REPRESENTATIVES. THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS POST ABOUT KOSA YOURSELF.
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To my mutuals or followers, or just anyone who sees this:
Please reblog the kosa bill posts from me and others. This bill is EXTREMELY dangerous to the queer community and especially queer minors. As a queer and trans minor in a bad home situation, I and many others would be in so much danger if this bill is approved. Its actually so horrific. One of the senators who introduced it, Marsha Blackburn, said that "protecting minor children from the transgender in this culture" was a top priority. As a trans minor, I find this disgusting and harmful to my existence, I'm sure many others my age feel the same way. So please: REBLOG THE KOSA BILL POSTS.
EDIT: IT WILL ALSO CENSOR THE PALESTINE GENOCIDE POSTS AND MANY MORE THINGS!!! WE WILL BE BLOCKED FROM THE TRUTH!!! Also I do not know many things about the kosa bill, this is the limit of my knowlege, so I can't answer any questions. I'm sorry!
URGENT: Congress about to pass a mass censorship and surveillance bill under the guise of "protecting children"
May 13 2023
The Senate has been in a "do something!" mode regarding children's online safety. They're using this as an excuse to push for widespread internet censorship and surveillance. The EARN IT Act, has a slimmer chance of passing with widespread opposition and some senators saying they won't vote for it. TLDR;The real threat is actually KOSA (s.1409), the Kid's Online Safety Act, which will mass censor and surveill the entire internet by giving all 50 state attorney generals the power to remove content that is "harmful" for kids, and force you to upload your govt ID online to access the internet. I'll explain how it works below the action items but it's absolutely urgent that anyone who likes having a free and open internet fights back. It's all hands on deck, because this has so much public support it's insane:
HOW TO FIGHT KOSA
CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES & THE COMMERCE COMMITTEE
This is a link to the Senate Commerce Committee phone numbers and a call script to read off of. (202) 224-3121 connects you to the congressional hotline
Opposition is getting drowned, and these upcoming weeks will be heavy for lobbying and they're using young people to do it. We NEED to show these senators that young people are actually opposed to this and don't want it.
2. Sign these petitions
Open Letter Against KOSA
Petition 1
Petition 2
Petition 3
Petition 4
Resistbot: Text PHJDYH to 50409
3. Spread the word.
The opposition is getting absolutely drowned online. Dove has nearly 100k signatures to push for KOSA. Influencers on tiktok are pushing for this without ever having read the bill. Fucking Lizzo is sponsoring it. If you have twitter, reddit, tiktok, are in any community, SPREAD THE WORD, PLEASE.
Here is a linktree with all the above petitions for easy shargin: Link to linktree
HOW KOSA WORKS
First, KOSA pressures platforms to install filters that would wipe the net of anything deemed “inappropriate” for minors. This means instructing platforms to censor. We saw how these filters impacted websites firsthand with tumblr in 2018, with not only blocking all adult content but also sfw queer content such as suicide hotlines, art archives, wiping out entire blogs because they had queer fandom related posts, etc. Places that already use content filters have restricted important information about suicide prevention and LGBTQ+ support groups. KOSA would spread this kind of censorship to every corner of the internet. And who gets to decide what is and isn't harmful for minors? Oh don't worry, just every single state attorney general and the FTC, which is appointed by the president. You know, the same attorney generals that just banned gender-affirming healthcare under the guise that it "ruins mental health" of minors. This is why the Heritage Foundation was one of the first to sponsor the bill because they can use it to censor trans content, and Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee is it's co-author.
Second, KOSA would ramp up the online surveillance of all internet users by forcing websites to use age verification and parental monitoring tools. Yup, that's right. Now every single person who wants to access the internet has to upload their govt ID online to third party apps that get hacked all the time. You queer in a red state? You undocumented? You an activist? Have fun getting all your online activity and metadata attached to your govt ID.
Over 90+ human and LGBT rights groups agree that KOSA is dangerous and updates to the 2023 version won’t and can’t address the big problems with the bill. This bill has MASSIVE bipartisan support, and the authors Blumenthal and Blackburn (yes, that Blumenthal that's pushing the EARN IT Act, and who also sponsored the RESTRICT Act and SOPA/PIPA if you remember) are using the tragedy of mothers who lost their kids to online harassment and young adults who've been traumatized online to lobby for it, and got Dove the company to use a bunch of influencers to push for this under the guise it prevents eating disorders...I wish I was lying. There are already 30 co-sponsors.
It is all hands on deck. I'm dead serious when I say if this bill is passed it is the beginning if not end of the open and free internet.
Today I managed to reach a real live human being at Senator Butler's office to register my concerns about KOSA. I went through my concerns that this bill would be used by red state AGs to silence queer people online. But then I did something that seemed to make an impression.
I got a bit more personal, and said that as a transgender person I am actually scared that this will drive me off the internet and cut me off from my community.
I also said that my friends have trans kids, who depend on the internet for support. And I'm legit worried what'll happen to them.
I think that talking about my personal worries for this bill really helped drive my message home. I got a somewhat warmer response than in the past when I've called.
I've said this before, but my guess is that if this bill passes, it will be similar to what happened with sesta-fosta.
Platforms will either ban content that might be challenged, or merely shadowban it.
There is a lot of fear-mongering right now about algorithms recommending harmful content to kids. In response, platforms may do the opposite: set up algorithms to ensure that nobody sees content that Republicans don't like.
So far, chances of KOSA being enacted is 31% according to the site linked below.
Let's get that fucker down to zero, guys!!
Stuff to help us do that is linked here!
The call scripts linked below were originally for Congressional representatives, but now that the bill is in committee consideration by Senate Commerce, you should call your Senators instead and you can use the scripts for them. Also, when calling your Democrat senators, make sure to add that Senator Blackburn explicitly stated in interview that it would be used to "protect children from the transgender." I think it's pretty clear that this is not meant to protect children. It's just going to harm children further, especially trans children.
(Article below with a video of the interview embedded.)
Please help stop this bill in its tracks. Reblog, donate, call your senators, and keep an eye on the bill's chances of being passed. We can't stop now. 31% is still kind of a big number. We need to shrink those chances by a lot more.