#but it's online and free

[annoying--moth]

Did y'all ever see that one post that said something like "the problem with being creative is that I wanna create everything" because I just got Scratch because the other day I had an idea for a video game and now I'm gonna make a crappy demo for fun

[astronnova]

yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[bunnie-the-idiot]

the kids online safety act passed the u.s. senate.

long story short (for anyone who hadn't heard of this before) the kids online safety act, aka kosa, is a bill that will censor online content and resources for lgbtq+ matters, reproductive healthcare, activism (INCLUDING PALESTINE AND LIKELY OTHER CRISES GOING ON LIKE IN CONGO OR SUDAN), mental health, etc. everywhere--its effects likely won't be contained to just america.

today, july 30th, 2024, the senate passed it 91-3. it has officially moved to the house of representatives.

is this a pretty massive setback? yes. do you have every right to be scared, sad, angry, or whatever else about this happening? absolutely. but should you give up hope completely? NO!

even though kosa passed the senate, the house is on break/august recess at the moment. we have around an entire month to get emails, calls, and faxes in to house reps, maybe more depending on when they decide to vote on it.

should it pass the house and get signed into law, we still have a whole 18 months before it actually goes into effect. this is plenty of time for digital rights orgs (e.g. fight for the future, the electronic frontier foundation) and other groups that oppose it to file a lawsuit against it. even if, worst-case scenario, it flies through the house immediately after the recess ends, we can still fight this up to march 2026.

so, yes, remember what's at stake here, but also remember that it's not over yet. we lost a battle, not the war.

below are some resources to learn more about kosa and how to contact your reps (first link) + a page that lets you directly contact progressive house reps, sign an open letter opposing the bill, and view others' testimonies against it (second link):

FIGHT. FIGHT. FIGHT.

[elhopper1sm]

If you wanna protect AO3 or character ai. Or Wattpad. Or Tumblr. Or discord. Or even the right for undocumented people and minors to use the fucking Internet reblog this I swear to God. Reblog this and reblog as many KOSA posts as you can go on their website and contact your Representatives. Do it. Do it. Do it.

[musicofthenightphantomoftheopera]

URGENT UPDATE ON KOSA.

This is exactly how they were finally able to pass the tiktok ban after trying for 3 years. And this is exactly what I was worried about them trying as a result. Again, all info and resources for fighting KOSA are in the pinned post on my page. Plz spread the word. Even if you don't live in america, Share this with any american friends and mutuals you have. We can still fight this bill we still have a chance at stopping it just like we have in the past. The only reason it hasn't passed yet is because we keep fighting it. Don't forget that. make sure your reps and senators don't know a moment of peace

[dib-thing-wannabe]

OKAY SO GOOD NEWS: THE KOSA HEARING HAS APPARENTLY BEEN MOVED TO MARCH 13-16 INSTEAD!! WE STILL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME!!!

THAT BEING SAID, WE STILL DEFINITELY NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S NOT GOING TO PASS!!

For Palestines sake.

For Yamens sake.

For Congos sake.

For LGBTQIA+ kids and adults alike.

For everyone.

FUCK OFF KOSA, AND FUCK OFF AMERICA!

[couch-house]

little comic for disability pride month! HoH rouge is a headcanon i've had for a while but I never do anything with it... tragic... well now I've changed that :)

[eziojensenthe3rd]

Republicans nuked KOSA. Its considered DOA and wont be showing up at the house. This is good news certanly but its not entirely over. This bill got bipartisan support back in the senate, dickheads from both sides thought the idea behind kosa was worth doing, its just that the republican party decided to nuke it for reasons im trying to figure out? To try to deny a win for democrats similar to how they stopped a cancer research bill?

Something like kosa will pop up again, kosa itself may just rise from the grave and we'll have to go through this same song and dance so all i can say is stay informed on this type of shit. Inform your senators and reps not to support this shit and if they dont oppose it, vote them out in the next election they're running in.

There are bills that do in fact regulate the internet in a way that helps but also doesnt violate free speech by targeting how data is harvested. Thise bills should be pushed while censorship should die. For now, celebrate this day. KOSA atm is dead, done so in a manner so anticlimatic yet deserving. But be vigilant.

[hellyeahscarleteen]

We could use your help!

If you support the groundbreaking, inclusive, affirming, feminist, comprehensive, young-people-centered, queer sex ed for all we've provided for 25+ years to over 90 million people, please help us raise the $15K we need to pay our bills in 2024, or become one of 250 new donors we need for 2025! You can do that at Scarleteen.com/contribute or by heading to our site and clicking ‘Pitch-In ’. 🎉 If you’re already donating (thank you!) please consider increasing your monthly amount, if you can, even a little bit. We’ll count any increases we get towards our two goals! You can do that by clicking 'Manage Your Donation' in your latest donation receipt. If you can’t donate yourself, can you tell your friends, family and followers who we are, why you value our work and ask them if they’d be willing to donate? You can share this post and the link above, but using your own words is the most effective! Despite leading the way in SRE online from the 1990s on, and always making sure young people have access to good information even when it is suppressed elsewhere in their lives, we remain underfunded, including funding to pay our staff a fair, living wage. We need to meet this $15K goal to fund our most basic needs and our tightest budget. If you can help us do that, we can focus on providing awesome SRE, growing, improving and kicking-ass, and finding more funding for 2025. Thank you! ❤️

- The Scarleteam

[raan-miir-tah]

It's international day of action for hands off Rafah! We have been called to cut through the noise of the internet and only post about Palestine.

If for whatever reason physically attending protests and vigils is impossible, here's some stuff you can do:

Email your representatives (US)

Do your daily clicks

Stop Gaza Genocide toolkit

Ceasefire today.com

Print out flyers from Artists against Apartheid and put them up wherever they will be seen

Read and share Poems for Palestine

Request, check out, and read books about Palestine and by Palestinians at your local library

Hold your own/a private religious ceremony for the martyrs lost in the genocide. It's all religions vs the forces of colonialism, all remembrance is solidarity

Stream music from Palestinian artists and allies

Distribute and ensure that you are following the BDS boycott list

There is no freedom until we're all free, do everything you can to strive to freedom

[ajxrn-archive]

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!

[arthurmargon]

correction: israel has killed 15 palestinians in rafah in the evening of february 11. they’ve killed many more in rafah since february started. the death toll is around 400, with 76 killed today, monday feb 12. the iof destroyed khan yunis, the place where gazan refugees from the north were fleeing, and now the iof is attacking and murdering civilians in the last southern city.

do not look away from what the israeli colonizers have done to khan yunis and what they will do to rafah as long as world leaders across the globe twiddle their thumb and america continues to sink billions into this genocide.

just two days ago, the iof snipers killed a doctor in the middle of a surgery in a khan yunis hospital. there is a horrifying video of an old man, shot and crawling into the reception of said hospital, and no one is able to drag him away from the windows where snipers keep shooting at them. this is what our tax money is funding. this is what our leaders are encouraging. the entire world should be dying of shame and disgust, most especially the west, giddily supporting and paying for the nth genocide of brown indigenous people, and the greedy, soulless monsters of the uae and saudi arabia.

[notquiteaghost]

re: that fucking staff post. obviously death to algorithms, but i also wanna interrogate the wider underlying assumptions of their logic there cuz. is 'success' having lots of followers & lots of popular posts??? why is that the end goal of using this website. i don't open tumblr to get attention from strangers, i open tumblr to read funny jokes and interesting commentary and to see cool art. encouraging clout-chasing will only increase user engagement if you successfully get people literally addicted to the associated dopamine hit. what if we didn't have to do that!!! what if a website could be a place you went to on purpose because you had fun there!!!!

[elhopper1sm]

Stop KOSA. KOSA just got passed through the House and More organizations even Twitter and Snapchat. Social media companies it aims to delete are coming out in support of it. This content creator has been covering KOSA for a long time. If you remember when AO3 was down how everyone freaked out. KOSA could take AO3 off the Internet. Could remove queer content online. The ACLU opposes it. It's unconstitutional call your Senators. Call your Representatives. Call everyone you can in power and tell them to oppose this bill. Sign petitions follow the link in that creators bio. Go to bad Internet Bills dot com and get call script or fax script for it. Contact the ACLU about suing states that support KOSA. We can still fight. End KOSA protect online safety!

[swerveable]

EDIT: I HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT I MAY HAVE BEEN MISINFORMED, AND THAT THERE IS NO DECISIONS BEING MADE TODAY (THE 8TH) TO DECIDE KOSA. NONE THE LESS PLEASE DO NOT STOP CALLING YOUR REPS. WHEN IT DOES GET VOTED ON WE NEED ALL THE SUPPORT WE CAN GET TO GET IT TO FAIL.

TALK ABOUT KOSA LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT WE CAN'T HAVE IT PASS!!

If you care about Palestine, racial, lgbtq, religious, or other minorities you NEED to care about KOSA. Email your state reps and call them!! Calling will do so much more than an email. Sending both can do more.

SPEAK UP AND BE LOUD!!

SAY NO TO KOSA!!

https://www.tumblr.com/prismarts333/747035840217300992/theyre-gonna-push-kosa-through-senate-everything?source=share

Go through the my page and search Kosa, and you'll find resources.

GET IT TRENDING TO GET IT ENDING!!!

Tagging this in fandom tags for more coverage, because this can be, will be, and is already serious.