#california senate bill

[botgal]

California Bills To Watch For

I'm sure by now that many people are aware of the dangers posed by AB 3080 (discussed in my post here), but for those unaware, there are yet other bills in California that pose a danger to free use of the internet which we should also keep on the forefront of our minds. 3 of the 4 bills I will mention here will be going up for a hearing in the California Senate Committee on Appropriations, one of the bills is currently being held in suspense file until the suspense file is read and thus will not be up for discussion in the same way as the rest. So that one will remain more on the back burner but still good to call your representatives about nonetheless. (A link on how you can find your reps here).

CA SB 976: Protecting Our Kids From Social Media Addiction Act (Senator Skinner et al)

Building on the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, this bill seeks to make it unlawful for the operator of an addictive 'internet-based service or application' to provide an 'addictive feed' to a user unless the operator doesn't have actual knowledge the user is a minor, has reasonably determined the user isn't a minor, or has obtained verifiable parental consent to provide an addictive feed to a minor user.

Essentially a very complicated and roundabout bill which would be difficult to enforce and would necessitate the usage of age verification for nearly all users. Especially when the alternative is that parents would have to also give up their identifiable information to allow a child to use an online platform. And also limits the ability of a minor user to receive notifications from a service or application during times assumed to be for school attendance or for late night usage. Great potentials for privacy violations and potential dangers for minors in abusive households where parents can exercise greater control over them and what they do. Also does not limit this specifically to social media platforms.

Overall a very unnecessarily complex bill that attempts to solve issues with perceived addictive social media features in inefficient and privacy violating ways.

Currently set for Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on May 13th.

CA SB 1228: User Identity Authentication (Senator Steve Padilla)

Requires social media platforms to verify the identities of people with large social media followings and influence in a tiered system. Nominally to minimize the spread of misinformation during an election year.

"Influential users" are defined as people who either has content that has been seen by more than 50,000 users within a seven-day period across all accounts the user controls on the platform, those with accounts over 15,000 followers, or ranks in the top 6% of users by amount of content viewed by users on the platform within a seven-day period across all their accounts on that platform. These users would be required to provide the platform with their name, telephone number, and email address in order to be considered authenticated.

"Highly influential users" are defined as people whose content has been seen by more than 100,000 users within a seven-day period across all accounts the user controls on the platform, those with accounts over 30,000 followers, or ranks in the top 3% of users by amount of content viewed by users on the platform within a seven-day period across all their accounts on that platform. These users would be required to provide the platform with their name, telephone number, email address, and government-issued identification in order to be considered authenticated.

Supposedly there would be safeguards and rules saying that any information taken to authenticate a user would not be stored or used for anything besides authentication. And they would be marked as authenticated, with the option to block non-authenticated users. But also allows social media companies the option of requiring either of these things even for those who aren't considered influential or highly influential.

Essentially another identity verification measure which should not be allowed to pass, and unnecessarily complicated and unlikely to work in its attempts to prevent misinformation.

Currently set for Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on May 13th.

CA SB 1444: Let Parents Choose Protection Act of 2024 (Senator Stern)

Requires large social media platform providers to create, maintain, and make available third-party safety providers through which parents or guardians are able to control what appears on their child's social media feed.

Another bill which by its sheer existence would put the identities and information of users at risk, both adults and minors. And would likely lead to further age or identity verification measures which would be wholly unnecessary and highly invasive.

CA AB 1949: California Consumer Privacy Act of 2020: collection of personal information of a consumer less than 18 years of age (Assembly Member Lowenthal)

Would remove the conditions that an online business have actual knowledge that the consumer is less than 16 years of age, and would prohibit a business from selling or sharing information of a consumer less than 18 years of age unless the consumer or their parent/guardian has authorized the sale of the personal information. Also requires businesses to inform the consumers of what information is being collected and sold and will not collect additional information. Allows consumers the right to opt out of any sale of personal information, but by default none under 18 may have their information sold.

Also runs the risk of invasive age verification becoming the norm for internet websites, rather than wholesale allowing the opting in and out of sale of personal information to be default for all.

Currently set to the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Suspension File.

With all that said, while I know it may seem like a lot, please look into these bills as much as you can, and send messages to your representatives letting them know you're in opposition to all of them and what they could potentially mean for our internet freedom, privacy, and safety.

[coochiequeens]

Ladies in California please reblog

https://www.sacbee.com/news/equity-lab/representation/article273434580.html

Amid ongoing concerns that missing Black women and girls are too-often ignored by law enforcement and the media, a California legislator has proposed alert notifications to mandate immediate action when those cases happen. Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Los Angeles has proposed Senate Bill 673 to create special “Ebony Alerts” for missing Black women, girls and youth, similar to Amber or Silver Alerts used for missing children and senior citizens. Bradford said his proposal would ensure Black women and girls receive the same level of resources and commitments as other missing persons cases, to help locate them and bring them home.

Ebony Alerts would make missing Black girls and women a high priority, Bradford said, just like any other racial or ethnic group. “We want it to be activated and use those same media resources that you see (for) Amber Alert. We want to do exactly the same thing, no ifs, ands, or buts about it,” Bradford said. “That’s our intentions with this legislation, to make sure that you get it on your device, you see it on the freeway on digital boards, you see it across the screen on TV or on cable. So now we want all those things that you currently see now when you get an Amber Alert.” Bradford’s bill would authorize a law enforcement agency to request California Highway Patrol to activate an Ebony Alert when Black youth, including young women and girls, are reported missing ”under unexplained or suspicious circumstances,” according to the bill’s text.

see rest of article

[boreal-sea]

Who is Kamala Harris?

These are all from her Wikipedia page. I have picked the top 5 for each of these sections. Maybe you think other things are more important, these are just the things that stood out to me:

Highlights as District Attorney of San Francisco:

was tough on gun crime: created a gun crime unit, set 90-day minimum sentences, raised bail for gun-related crimes, and prosecuted all assault weapon possession cases as felonies.

created a hate crimes unit specifically focused on LGBTQ hate crimes against children and teens in school.

was (and is) against the death penalty; during her time as DA did not cave to pressure in several cases to seek the death penalty.

helped create the San Francisco Reentry Division, aimed at helping prisoners reintegrate after their sentences are through; the program became a national model.

refused to enforce prop 8, which was at the time California's ban on gay marriage.

Highlights as Attorney General of California

introduced the Homeowner Bill of Rights and fought against banks, mortgage companies, and credit card companies.

fought for financial reimbursement for public employee and teacher pensions.

fought for environmental protections and secured settlements and indictments against several oil companies for oil spills.

conducted a review of implicit bias in policing and the use of deadly force and introduced implicit bias training.

declared a law that California law enforcement had to collect and report police violence.

Highlights as a California Senator:

condemned Trump's Muslim ban.

opposed Trump's appointments of Betsy DeVos and Jeff Sessions, his nomination of Neil Gorsuch, and voted against confirming Kavanaugh.

tried to make lynching a federal hate crime.

urged the Trump administration to investigate the persecution of Uyghur Muslims in China.

voted to convict Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Highlights as Vice president:

as President of the Senate, cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate that ensured the passing of the American Rescue Act.

has cast more tie-breaking votes than any other Vice president in US history - she is responsible for many of the achievements of the Biden administration actually passing the Senate.

created task forces on corruption and human trafficking.

created a women's empowerment program.

has criticized Israel's actions during the current conflict in Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire.

[tanoraqui]

shoutout to my dash and the Democratic Party as a whole right now for being like

Some good policy reasons to get excited about Harris. Gun control! Heathcare! LGBT rights!

Fighting for the fate of the world: has said she’ll make climate change a top national security priority; was one of the original Senate sponsors of the Green New Deal (others: Ocasio-Cortez, Markey), much of which became Biden’s stealthily VERY green Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act

Yes, she was a prosecuting attorney; no, it’s NOT an ACAB situation—highlights of her time as District Attorney of San Francisco and Attorney General of California include enabling a re-entry/anti-recidivism program for young drug users which is now used as a template around the country, pointedly not prosecuting people for marijuana possession (distinctly before it was legal), defending Californians against foreclosures, got the “gay/trans panic” defense BANNED in CA courts, and being the first statewide agency to require all police offers to wear body cams.

As VP she’s spearheaded abortion rights, developed and nearly passed a landmark voting rights bill (stymied by Senate Republicans + 2 Democrats unwilling to change filibuster rules), and quietly built a solid foreign policy portfolio, including firm support of Palastine.

Find out if you’re registered to vote in any state!

Register to vote in any state!

Other voting resources—and DON’T FORGET to vote down-ballot, too! See how much Harris did as County District Attorney and State Attorney General? Those are elected offices!

[reasonsforhope]

"The California state government has passed a landmark law that obligates technology companies to provide parts and manuals for repairing smartphones for seven years after their market release.

Senate Bill 244 passed 65-0 in the Assembly, and 38-0 in the Senate, and made California, the seat of so much of American technological hardware and software, the third state in the union to pass this so-called “right to repair” legislation.

On a more granular level, the bill guarantees consumers’ rights to replacement parts for three years’ time in the case of devices costing between $50 and $99, and seven years in the case of devices costing more than $100, with the bill retroactively affecting devices made and sold in 2021.

Similar laws have been passed in Minnesota and New York, but none with such a long-term period as California.

“Accessible, affordable, widely available repair benefits everyone,” said Kyle Wiens, the CEO of advocacy group iFixit, in a statement. “We’re especially thrilled to see this bill pass in the state where iFixit is headquartered, which also happens to be Big Tech’s backyard. Since Right to Repair can pass here, expect it to be on its way to a backyard near you.” ...

One of the reasons Wiens is cheering this on is because large manufacturers, from John Deere to Apple, have previously lobbied heavily against right-to-repair legislation for two reasons. One, it allows them to corner the repair and maintenance markets, and two, it [allegedly] protects their intellectual property and trade secrets from knock-offs or competition.

However, a byproduct of the difficulty of repairing modern electronics is that most people just throw them away.

...Wien added in the statement that he believes the California bill is a watershed that will cause a landslide of this legislation to come in the near future."

-via Good News Network, October 16, 2023

[batboyblog]

If you voted for kamala you don't give a fuck about trans rights, she literally made her career putting trans women in men's prisons and you'll notice dems haven't touched that worsening issue nor have they corrected the fact that a ton of trans people myself included are now undocumented in a way that impacts us ever legally leaving this country. Dems at any time could intervene in a big way and CHOOSE not to, it's one party. Congrats on your active participance in multiple genocides with your vote and public spewing though!

I debated not answering this, I often don't answer asks like this.

but not only did I vote for Kamala Harris (and very proudly) I worked for her election very hard, I literally bled (split knuckle from door knocking) to try to make her President, other people did more.

I will be proud of that vote and that work, as I am proud of the work I did to try to elect Hillary Clinton, and the work I did to elect Joe Biden, to the day I die, and no pathetic Tumblr troll will ever effect those feelings even a little bit.

in any case, no Kamala didn't put any trans women in men's prisons thats not even what that case was about. Many people who aren't informed have spun a case where two inmates sued the California state prison system to have their SRS covered by the prison system in the 2010s when Harris was Cali AG to be something it isn't. For the record both women got their SRS payed for by the state and Harris moved to change the Prison system's policy on that matter

oh and btw, the person who moved to allow trans people to get federal documents? Hillary Clinton as Sec of State, the policy Trump is ripping up to make trans people undocumented? was invented by Democrats, by Hillary Clinton.

"Dems at any time could intervene in a big way and CHOOSE not to" no actually they can't, I get a lot of people want someone to step in and press the big "stop the madness button" but there isn't such a button, well there was, in November the voters were offered two buttons "stop the madness" and "make everything stupider" and they pressed the second one. The only way out, is through. So we all have to go through it, Democrats don't have a secret spell or magic button to stop this, they don't have the votes, unless and until Republicans break with Trump (lol) or enough people get burned by the Trump stove touching that there's a mass in the streets protest movement that shuts down America, we're stuck waiting for 2026 before there's anyone other than the courts to act as a break on the illegality shit show.

actually, in one of the few cases and places were Democrats actually did have a power? they killed a transphobic bill in the Senate, and clearly will keep doing that.

any ways I'll keep voting for the party of trans rights happily and you can ... idk go live in a cave and give up? that seems to be the vibe, have fun with that.

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week

1. A branch of the flu family tree has died and won't be included in future US vaccines

A type of flu virus that used to sicken people every year hasn't been spotted anywhere on Earth since March 2020. As such, experts have advised that the apparently extinct viruses be removed from next year's flu vaccines.

The now-extinct viruses were a branch of the influenza B family tree known as the Yamagata lineage. Scientists first reported the apparent disappearance of Yamagata viruses in 2021.

2. Hospitals must obtain written consent for pelvic and similar exams, the federal government says

Hospitals must obtain written informed consent from patients before subjecting them to pelvic exams and exams of other sensitive areas — especially if an exam will be done while the patient is unconscious, the federal government said Monday.

New guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services now requires consent for breast, pelvic, prostate and rectal exams for “educational and training purposes” performed by medical students, nurse practitioners or physician assistants.

3. Germany approves new law that will allow adults to carry up to 25 grams of cannabis for their own consumption and store up to 50 grams at home.

Germany's upper house, the Bundesrat, cleared the way to partially legalize cannabis on Friday. Adults aged 18 and over will be allowed to carry up to 25 grams of cannabis for their own consumption.

4. Tick-killing pill shows promising results in human trial | Should it pan out, the pill would be a new weapon against Lyme disease.

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals is developing a pill for humans that could provide protection against the tick-borne disease for several weeks at a time. In February, the Irvine, California–based biotech company announced results from a small, early-stage trial showing that 24 hours after taking the drug, it can kill ticks on people, with the effects lasting for up to 30 days.

5. Thailand moves to legalise same-sex marriage

Thailand has taken a historic step closer to marriage equality after the lower house passed a bill giving legal recognition to same-sex marriage.

It still needs approval from the Senate and royal endorsement to become law but it is widely expected to happen by the end of 2024, making Thailand the only South East Asian country to recognise same-sex unions.

6. French Revolution: Cyclists Now Outnumber Motorists In Paris

Official measurements have found that Paris is rapidly becoming a city of transportation cyclists. In the suburbs, where public transit is less dense, transport by car was found to be the main form of mobility. But for journeys from the outskirts of Paris to the center, the number of cyclists now far exceeds the number of motorists, a huge change from just five years ago.

7. 'Miracle' operation reverses blindness in three-year-old girl giving her 'promising' future

A three year old with a genetic condition that causes blindness is doing incredibly well after unique pioneering operation to restore her sight.

The UK is the only country performing keyhole eye surgery to inject healthy copies of a gene into sufferers’ eyes. It is being used to reverse blindness in children born with a rare condition which means they can only distinguish between light and dark. And it has given little Khadijah Chaudhry, born with Leber congenital amaurosis-4, a chance at seeing properly again.

---

That's it for this week :)

This newsletter will always be free. If you liked this post you can support me with a small kofi donation here:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Also don’t forget to reblog this post with your friends.

[botgal]

Age Verification World News Update

Hot news in the world of data privacy and age verification legislation.

Israeli-owned company AU10TIX has apparently recently suffered a massive data breach in their system. This company, which provides software to social media sites like TikTok and Twitter (also known as X), mainly performs age verification through collecting user information like drivers' licenses. There's apparently been a year-long exposure of sensitive collected data which could be accessed by bad-faith actors.

This is exactly the kind of thing we need to use to show our lawmakers how dangerous and irresponsible it would be to mandate age and identify verification for any online services, adult or otherwise.

Spread the word on this. Contact lawmakers again and make them aware of this issue!

[mother-2-is-home]

Hey we need to talk about AB3080.

It's another age verification bill and this time it's in California. It's being voted on Monday. We absolutely cannot let this pass especially considering a ton of tech HQ's are in California.

We need to spread the word and take action.

If you live in California please contact your reps and senators to vote no.

Take action here:

https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/

And here:

[coochiequeens]

An organization called Men Having Babies boasted that the bill will "remove financial barriers" for gay men who wish to rent a woman's womb to have a child who has the DNA of one of the males in the relationship.” Leave it to California for trying to make it easier to exploit women sound progressive.

Co-author of the bill Senator Caroline Menjivar (D) said the bill "will ensure that queer couples no longer have to pay more out of pocket to start families than non-queer families."

California Bill SB 729 seeks to redefine "infertility" to be a status, as opposed to a medical condition. Changing the definition to "a person’s inability to reproduce either as an individual or with their partner without medical intervention" would classify gay men as infertile. 

The bill, which passed the Senate last month, would require insurance companies to cover in-vitrofertilization procedures. With the change in definition, this would also include forcing the firms to cover surrogacy for gay males. 

Co-author of the bill Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D) said the bill "will ensure that queer couples no longer have to pay more out of pocket to start families than non-queer families." She continued, "This bill is critical to achieving full-lived equality for LGBTQ+ people, as well as advancing well-rounded and comprehensive health care for all Californians."

An organization called Men Having Babies boasted that the bill will "remove financial barriers" for gay men who wish to rent a woman's womb to have a child who has the DNA of one of the males in the relationship. 

The group states on its website, "Central to our fight for more equitable access to parenting options is what we know from our combined experiences: The anguish and yearning that same-sex couples and singles feel due to their inability to reproduce without medical intervention is equal to the anguish of heterosexual couples who suffer from 'medical infertility.'" 

According to the Free Beacon, the opposition to SB 729 comes from California business and insurance groups who claim that it will raise insurance premiums by more than $330 million a year. Others point to the erosion of the traditional family structure. 

"Under this bill, most insurance plans would be required to provide in vitro fertilization services based on someone’s relationship status or sexual orientation," said Emma Waters with the Heritage Foundation. "For single men or male same-sex couples, this means they would need to access a surrogate to carry their child. So the bill is outlining what adults have the right to, but nowhere does it address the needs of the child or safety concerns regarding the child either in IVF or in gestational surrogacy."

"This bill seeks to further erode the father, mother, and child nuclear family and make everyone in society pay for it to further a make-believe cause named 'fertility equality,'" said Greg Burt, director of the California Family Council. "The reason healthy singles and same-sex couples can't reproduce has nothing to do with infertility; it has to do with biology."

SB 729 would not affect any "entity that enters into a contract with the State Department of Health Care Services for the delivery of health care services pursuant to specified provisions." By Sara Higdon

In the meantime California has 60,000 kids in foster care

[reality-detective]

Things that are not in the news anymore… 👇

-Maui wildfires.

-East Palestine, Ohio

-Joe Biden classified documents as a Senator.

-Fauci working with China to create a bioweapon.

-Pete Buttigieg’s best friend in prison for child porn.

-Cocaine in the White House. (TWICE NOW)

-The BLM and Antifa riots during 2020 causing BILLIONS of dollars of damage. And yes I brought this up on Juneteenth.

-The data collected from the Chinese spy balloons.

-Ukraine intelligence documents released that showed they were suffering massive losses and the American taxpayer was being lied to.

-Nancy Pelosi’s “documentary” film crew on J6.

-Veterans being kicked out of shelters to make room for illegals.

-Pizzagate “debunker” jailed for possession of child pornography.

-Gay porn film in Senate hearing room.

-Veterans Affairs prioritizing healthcare of illegals over Veterans.

-THE SOUTHERN BORDER CRISIS.

-Afghanistan drawdown and 13 service members killed in an attack on Kabul International Airport, that they hid the severity of it.

-Obama droning an American citizen in the Middle East.

-George Bush’s false WMDs.

-3 service members killed in Jordan.

-Hunter Biden making over $1M for “paintings”.

-J6 political prisoners that are still in jail.

-85,000 missing children at the southern border.

-Epstein’s clients.

-Obama coordinating with John Brennan and 4 other countries (5 eyes) to spy on the 2016 Trump campaign.

-Mail-in ballots were the cause of the stolen 2020 election.

-Jeffrey Epstein mentioning that Bill Clinton liked his girls “really young”.

-The (NOW TWO) airline whistleblowers that mysteriously died.

-Benghazi (I won’t mention anything more about this because I care about my life.)

-Nancy Pelosi’s daughter stating that January 6th wasn’t an insurrection.

-The January 6th committee destroying encrypted evidence before the GOP took over the House.

-Nancy Pelosi admitting that J6 was “her responsibility”.

-House Speaker Mike Johnson claiming there wouldn’t be foreign aid without border security in the bill, which was a lie.

-The recent riots from illegal criminal aliens at the southern border and the border in general.

-Hunter Biden not complying with a Congressional subpoena and deemed untouchable. Democrat privilege.

-Vaccine side effects.

-“Lab leak” out of China.

-The Secret Service having to basically guide Joe Biden everywhere he goes.

-Who leaked (Sotomayor) the SCOTUS Alito decision.

-Federal instigators inside the Capitol including pipe bomb evidence against them.

-Obama’s chef “passing away”.

-HRC’s chef “passing away”.

-The Sheriff that happened to be in Las Vegas (during the mass shooting) AND the wildfires in Hawaii.

-P Diddy sex-trafficking allegations. Where’s Diddy?

-Gonzalo Lira (an American journalist) that was killed in Ukraine

-Congress approving warrantless spying violating American’s 4th amendment rights while they are exempt.

-Americans that were left in foreign countries (Haiti, Palestine, Afghanistan).

-The billions of dollars of weaponry left in Afghanistan and the Taliban receiving $40M a week in “humanitarian assistance”.

-Biolabs found in California.

-Joe Biden’s impeachment.

-The scum in the UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES waving the Ukrainian flag.

-The over 300k ballot images that could not be found in Fulton County, Georgia; the same county Donald Trump on trial for “election interference”.

-Democrats defunding the police causing massive rises in crime.

-Kamala Harris’s record as DA in California.

-The Transifesto from the school shooting.

-Many U.S. Representatives and Congress receiving FTX funds.

-They’re already working hard to bury Donald Trump’s àssassination attempt but we won’t let them bury that story. July 13th is never going away.

The distractions are out of control.

Share to show that legacy media is dead and that WE are the media now. 🤔

[taikeero-lecoredier]

RECENT UPDATES ON THE BAD INTERNET CALIFORNIA BILLS:

Sadly, both AB1949 and SB976 passed and are now on their way to the governors desk.

We need him to veto them so they dont become Law.

If you havent Heard of the danger of those bills for the Internet , this post explain it thoroughly :

- Post doing a deep explanation on those bills here

I CANNOT emphasize enough how these would have a global effect on the Internet given that most websites and apps originates from California and not all of them could afford either following those bills or moving states.

Now, as the bills are on their way to the governor, we need Californian citizens to voice their oppositions to those bills to the Governor Gavin Newsome HERE

(Non California peeps, we are urging you to share this as well!!! )

Please keep in mind that calling with phone is much,much more efficient.

You can also send faxes with Faxzero

Here are scripts you can use as arguments : (text/alt version below the read more )

Than you for reading. Even if youre not from California, please spread the word anyway ! Make posts,tweets,etc

REBLOGS ENCOURAGED

TEXT VERSION :

AB 1949

Hello, my name is (INSERT NAME HERE) and I'm one of the Senator's constituents from (INSERT CITY HERE). I'm calling to urge the Senator to vote NO on AB 1949, the amendment to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2020. While this bill's intent is to prevent the sharing and sale of minor's information under the age of 18, the method it would intend to do so by is written far too broadly for it to be safely and reasonably implemented.

While this bill retains a safer standard of the business requiring actual knowledge of a consumer being under the age of 18 to be held liable for the sharing or sale of personal information, its wording is still too broad to exclude a default usage of age verification by online businesses in order to protect themselves from liability. Taking measures such as age verification, age assurance, or other data collection and analysis to determine the age of users. Even though measures like this have been proven to be vulnerable to data breaches no matter how secure they proclaim to be. Such as this year's largest discovered breach of AU10TIX, which supplies age verification to companies like TikTok, X, Uber, LinkedIn, Paypal, and many others.

As it stands, this bill is far too broad in its wording and enforcement of its age-specific measures to be considered a safe piece of legislation. Which is why I urge the Senator to vote in opposition to this measure.

Vote NO on AB 1949.

---------------------------

SB 976

Hello, my name is (INSERT NAME HERE) and I'm one of the Assembly member's constituents from (INSERT CITY HERE). I'm calling to urge the Assembly member to vote NO on SB 976, the Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act. Although this bill has intent to protect the mental and emotional health of California's youth, the method this bill would intend to use could be counterproductive to that goal, or even endanger them further.

One of this bill's primary measures includes requiring verifiable parental consent to allow websites to display “addictive” feeds to minor users. However, the ways “verify” the identity and age of a responsible parent are often invasive and dangerous. Especially since these methods have proven repeatedly to be vulnerable to data breaches that can leak sensitive information to bad actors. Such as this year's largest discovered breach of AU10TIX, which supplies age verification to companies like TikTok, X, Uber, LinkedIn, Paypal, and many others. To determine if this is necessary at all would also require collecting even more data on minors and non-minors alike to determine who would even require these measures to be set in place. Especially when it would have control over someone's access to a website or application based on the time of day, as this bill would require in order to “reasonably determine” the user is not a minor.

The vagueness of this bill's text at all is dangerous as well. The broad-spectrum definition it gives of “addictive internet-based service or application” could cause an unintended censorship effect where minors and adults alike could be blocked from accessing information purely because some part of a website or application uses a “feed” which could arguably fit the bill's definition of “addictive”

With all of this in mind, I urge the Assembly member to vote in opposition of this measure to protect the privacy and safety of California's minors and adults alike.

Vote NO on SB 976.

[hamadisthings]

BAD CALIFORNIAN INTERNET BILLS

While it is good that KOSA is now dead in the House (for now) I would like to ask for people's attention on AB1949 and SB976, which could push for Age verification by showing your ID.

There was a third bill named AB3080 that had similar goals, but luckily it received revisions so it is no longer a threat or require ID verification to access websites. So it would be possible to get AB1949 and SB976 to be revised so they aren't dangerous anymore.

You can read the text for AB1949 right here

AB1949 doesn't explicitly ask for ID verification anymore, as it used to, due to a revision, but there is a provision stating if they deem a website "willfully disregards" the age of the user they will be deemed to have actual knowledge of the user's age.

This broad part could be left to abuse, which is why it needs to be revised before passing, in order to confirm ID verification is not required. FIND YOUR REPS HERE!

For AB1949, you can find your Senate representative with the link above as I said, and check to see if they're a member of the CA Senate Appropriations Committee. Then call them to tell them you oppose this bill. Try to add reasons you think this bill would negatively affect California financially because that's what this committee focuses on.

As for SB976, which you can read here

Its goal is to "keep kids off social medias and addictive feeds" But the concerning part is that "it would make it unlawful for the operator of an addictive internet-based service or application, as defined, to provide an addictive feed to a user, unless the operator does not have actual knowledge that the user is a minor; commencing January 1, 2027, has reasonably determined that the user is not a minor; or has obtained verifiable parental consent to provide an addictive feed to the user who is a minor."

How are you supposed to know that you have "verifiable parental consent" without ID and age verification of both parents and child?Even then, holding the ID of a minor feels pretty illegal given how sensitive how an info this is, in case of a data breach (which will happen) this would endanger kids even more, and no one in general want to give their ID to access a website or an app.

The bill would also make it unlawful for a website or app to send notifications to a minor according to a certain timeframe.

For SB976, find your Assembly representative using the link below and check to see if they're a member of the CA Assembly Appropriations Committee. Then call them to tell them you oppose this bill. https://apro.assembly.ca.gov/members

You can tell them how this is terrible for privacy, and the safety of children, and that it would be terrible for the economy of California, as they seem to focus on it. You can try sending faxes for either bills, but calling IS MUCH MORE efficient. https://faxzero.com/

Here is the time schedule, bills must be taken care before the end of August so it is a matter of time crunch:

You may use the following scripts for the respective bills, you can try to trim it if you deem it too long!

Might be worth a shot to contact Gavin Newsom (Californian governor) here to voice your concerns for these bills

[wilwheaton]

Up until the moment of its collapse, the cult of Reagan appeared as strong as ever. In the Bush administration, the son of Reagan’s vice president let Dick Cheney, one of Reagan’s earliest supporters in 1980, and other Reagan alumni steer the country. At the same time, then-congressman Mike Pence even co-sponsored a bill to boot Franklin D. Roosevelt off the dime in favor of Reagan. It became tradition for GOP presidential contenders to hoof it to the Reagan presidential library in California for a debate beneath Reagan’s glistening Air Force One jumbo jet. Two decades later, Cheney is persona non grata in the GOP, exiled for the cardinal sin of criticizing Donald Trump. Also gone is Cheney’s daughter Liz, primaried out of Congress in 2022 by furious Trump-aligned voters. Pence had to flee the Senate floor as a mob of MAGA zealots threatened to hang him. None of those Jan. 6 rioters cared that Pence had been a good steward of Reagan Republicanism during his long political career. They only knew that he had betrayed Trump, and that alone merited execution on the Capitol steps.

Wednesday’s Republican primary debate might as well be a funeral

[reasonsforhope]

"California has approved a bill to help address the dark side effects of the externally glitzy fast-fashion sector, putting the onus on manufacturers to implement repair and recycling programs. 

According to CalMatters' Digital Democracy project, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2024 on Sept. 28, more than a year after the bill began making its way through the state legislature. 

The act seeks to address the growing problem of waste from the fashion industry. CalMatters notes in its analysis that the Golden State tossed more than 1.3 million tons of textiles in 2018. 

As it stands, the state ships 45% of the items that are donated overseas, which contributes to environmental pollution, and once there, much of it still ends up in landfills, where it produces potent heat-trapping gases such as methane. 

In Ghana, for example, which has seen its beaches polluted by fast-fashion waste, 40% of the 15 million garments received each week are discarded. All in all, despite the fact that 95% of California's materials are recyclable, only 15% of clothing and textiles are reused. 

Democratic state senator Josh Newman, the bill's sponsor, told the Guardian that these concerning figures inspired him to take action.   

"We worked really hard to consult with and eventually to align all of the stakeholders in the life cycle of textiles so that at the end there was no opposition," he explained. "That's an immensely hard thing to do when you consider the magnitude of the problem and all of the very different interests."

According to the Guardian, the program is expected to go into effect in 2028, with its numerous backers anticipating it could create as many as 1,000 jobs in the Golden State. 

Details are still being hammered out. However, garment manufacturers who aren't already participating in eco-friendly programs will have incentives to adopt greener practices, with recycling collection sites and mail-back programs among the possibilities.  

And while some have worried that small businesses and mid-sized brands could be disproportionately impacted by the legislation and end up passing on the prices to consumers, Newman estimates that the cost should be less than 10 cents per garment or textile."

-via The Cool Down, October 3, 2024