#we cannot let kosa bills pass

[skeletal-sam]

YOU GUYS!!!!

The reason why KOSA was declined LAST TIME was because people called continuously to senators and told them NOT TO ACCEPT THE BILL!!!! KEEP ON CALLING!!! KEEP ON SIGNING PETITIONS AGAINST KOSA!!! THESE INTERNET BILLS ARE NOT AT ALL GOOD!!!!! The government should NOT be keeping you all on parental controls on the INTERNET!!! KEEP ON CALLING!!! THIS IS LITERALLY ONE OF THE WAYS!!!!

[tsuunytsuun]

YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME

There's no WAY they're just gonna try and make the whole internet babysit kids rather than actually TARGET THE PEOPLE HARMING THEM or holding parents accountable??

If this bill passes I may not be able to post here or on Youtube anymore

I may not be able to talk to my friends on Discord

I'll lose some of the most important people in my life

I'll lose some of the things that make me the happiest

They're going to censor anything the extremist people government don't like- queer content, bipoc content, content related to sexual health, content about racism and discrimination, ANYTHING.

This bill absolutely CANNOT pass, I'm literally begging that this doesn't pass

everybody go to the KOSA Masterpost and FIND A WAY TO HELP. Call your Senators/House reps, email them, reblog posts, spread the word, ANYTHING.

WE CANNOT LET THIS BILL PASS.

[scarycranegame]

everybody go sign this now pls and thank you!! and also share it so that more people can show the government how much kosa fucking SUCKS

you know kosa is a horrible fucking idea when even the kids it's claiming to protect are rallying against it

[gay-and-stupid]

this is a form to send a letter to stop KOSA, the Kids Online Safety Act. KOSA, despite the name, will make the internet much more dangerous. it is unconstitutional. Lawmakers have reintroduced the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a dangerous censorship bill that would give the government unprecedented control over the internet. KOSA won’t make kids more safe. Instead, it’ll put youth in danger by preventing them from accessing resources they need. Lawmakers concerned about online safety should reject KOSA and instead work to protect all internet users from abusive tech companies by passing a Federal data privacy law. pleas, fill out the form, and send it in. we cannot let KOSA pass.

[mariegolddoesthings]

I know it's April Fools but this post isn't a joke.

KOSA will do more harm than help for minors. The government will decide what content will be filtered for users under 18, including topics about LGBTQ+ and #free Palestine.

This bill literally violates the first amendment and I don't know why people are agreeing to it. FFS even my parents agree with it and it hurts so much.

Read this article for more info.

I am begging you to sign as many petitions as you can. Call your representatives. Reblog posts just like this one. Use the #stop kosa tags when you're reblogging it so we can get it trending.

If you need to talk about topics like Palestine, LGBTQ+, etc. on the media, then we cannot let this bill pass.

Don't give up hope. There's still a lot for the bill to go through before it can become a law.

STOP KOSA.

[mintpopz]

a brief post regarding KOSA.

KOSA (also known as Kids Online Safety Act) alongside others like it (such as the Online Safety Act in the UK, RESTRICT-IT, COPPA 2.0, etc.) Are planning to censor the internet. In particular, KOSA and Online Safety Act are very close to being passed through and made law.

Now, what do I mean when I say "censor the internet"? Well...

Under the guise of "Protecting children", these bigots trying to push the bill through congress want to censor LGBTQ+/queer content (including advice for trans and gay teenagers), abortion, gun violence, gore and violence, sexual/18+ content, suicide and depression help, and many more.

This bill also plans to effectively destroy free speech online, with the removal of end-to-end encryption. Furthermore, it also wants an ID for online posting and will reveal what kids are doing to their parents regardless. This would be extremely harmful especially for queer minors in the closet, or minors with abusive parents.

but what can YOU do to stop these bills?

You can Phone your senators, sign petitions, send emails, or spread the word through social media. We CANNOT let laws like KOSA and Online Safety Act censor queer people and destroy our queer cultures online. 2 senators have already disagreed with KOSA, one of them because of the phonecalls and feedback from people like US, which is proof that it's still worth fighting. the fight is far from over, but even the smallest of actions is one step closer to shutting this bill down. Both KOSA and Online Safety are in recess until September, so make this month count.

finally, here are some links to helpful sites/petitions and more information:

[winternimbus]

KOSA has been officially introduced in the house as of April 10th, 2024. there is a calling day TODAY, (April 16th, 2024--which is when i made this post) to make it clear that there is opposition to these bills. if you need a script, this useful post by lokiinmediasideblog has scripts for both republican and democrat senators. i personally used this post, and it's beyond helpful. if you're interested on learning more, and/or unable to call your senators, the EFF has a useful page HERE, which imo is the most useful resource on the matter--and has a prefilled message that you can use in order to email your senators for those in the US. other good sites of information that have similar messages in order to email your reps and senators are Stop KOSA, and Bad Internet Bills.

i'm terrified of this. there's precedent for this bill to pass due to bipartisian support, and the fact that bills that align with KOSA have passed in florida, and kansas. even one message to your senator can go a long way. we cannot let this dangerous bill pass.

[cheshire-j]

KOSA UPDATE!!

So I've been out of the loop for a while, but apparently we're going through this again 🙄.

From what I've heard, KOSA is going to be a topic of discussion this week (Jan 31, 2024) and from the sounds of it there have been ZERO changes made to the bill.

There is a fine line between legitimately protecting children and censoring and eliminating the privacy of everybody.

If protecting children is a concern, why not address the root cause of the issue. I.E. address any and all forms of bullying, take away communication options from people who have a history of being predatory....

There are other ways to protect children! And KOSA, and bills similar to it, are not it!

I ask that you please contact your senators and representatives, tell them to vote no, tell them the reason why KOSA is bad, read the bill and speak out about it.

KOSA does not protect kids, not with the way it currently is; it only seeks to remove the privacy of everybody such as implementing age verification. In addition, it will restrict or outright ban certain apps or media that the government deems as inappropriate, which is a violation of our First Ammendment to free press and speech.

Contact your senators and representatives ASAP. We CANNOT let this pass!

[frostbitedoesart]

Hey! Do you have an original or fictional character that you'd really like to see get drawn?

Well, I'm giving out free bust shots in exchange for a couple of simple things.

For context, the Kid's Online Safety Act, or KOSA, is a bill meant to "protect children," by that I mean it will put the internet under heavy surveillance and censorship rules. What would be considered as dangerous for children would be completely determined by the government.

This is the government that has decided that conversations about race, sexuality, gender, and mental health are dangerous for kids. What does this mean, then?

It means that if you are a person of color, queer, or neurodivergent, this bill will do whatever it can to wipe you off the face of the internet.

Not only that, but people sixteen years of age or younger would be placed under HEAVY surveillance, which is an extreme breach of privacy.

If this bill passes, the internet will become operated like a fascist regime that hovers over children and completely censors the existence of anyone that isn't white, cishet, and neurotypical. We CANNOT let this happen.

All I ask of you is this: reblog this post, and DM me with proof that you've either signed all of the following petitions or have emailed your representatives. This costs you nothing except a little bit of your time.

Do this, and, as previously stated, I will draw you a bust shot of your original character or otherwise fictional character of your choice.

Here are some examples of what this art would look like:

This offer ends on Monday at 12 AM EST, the same day the bill goes to Senate to be discussed. All art will be completed and sent to the recipients by Monday evening.

[empty-pools-vacant-alleyways]

heard something about kosa being pushed back until march or whatever? all honesty, not really sure how that works or how true that is. anyway, what i have to say is that even if it has, PLEASE do not shut up about it. please keep talking about it. please keep calling your representatives. please keep signing petitions. we cannot let this bill pass. content relating to palestine/the lgbtqia+/mental health/etc. will be censored. it is incredibly dangerous. we need to keep speaking out against it.

[the-rad1o-demon]

I will keep saying this until KOSA is six feet under the ground:

WE. CANNOT. STOP. FIGHTING. We can't let the bill pass. The author of this news article shows yet another reason why we can't let it pass.

The post I linked below has resources you can use to fight KOSA. Please share both that post and this one, and please help us stop this bill before it passes!!

[skeletal-sam]

The fact that in the commercial for KOSA that they're using mothers who lost their children to guilt trip and lure you into agreeing with the bill is honestly weird and just sketchy as hell, like you shouldn't need to have people repeat OVER and OVER that this bill will cause harm, privacy concerns and more possible suicide ratings. Especially when both of these people are minors and adults.

[simnostalgia]

If KOSA doesn't pass, something else will.

ugh, this whole KOSA thing makes me roll my eyes. I'm sorry I KNOW I'm just a sims blog but I need to say something and it's going to be long, skip if you want to-

I get it I do, call your reps if you want to. I honestly could see it getting struck down (yet again) but honestly? It's probably gonna get through eventually in our current political and cultural climate. Do you know why? Not because of wanting to protect kids, obviously, but because they can't easily shape the narrative. And children, being blank slates, are obviously not as scared of upturning power structures as their X/Boomer parents. Not that I super needed to tell you any of this, I mean it's obvious.

And I mean, don't be naive, this was cute when it was like 2015 or whatever and we all banded together to stop SOPA but obviously this isn't going to stop. This isn't just a whiny lament about how we can do nothing (Which, total sidebar, isn't it weird when these sorts of things come up and people show up in the comments all "Oh no, there's nothing we can do!! I guess we'll just die!!!" like, get a grip)

ANYWAY, when was the last time you watched something illegally? Probably pretty recently, when was the last time you got a hold of something you probably weren't supposed to have. Do you know easy it will probably be to bypass these measures? You really expect me to believe that they're capable of censoring the WHOLE internet?

Our government. Which cannot do anything competently besides war crimes (and even then...), is really going to plug *every hole* in that regard? The trillion dollar Hollywood machine has been dumping endless amounts of money and time into stopping piracy and they STILL haven't done it. The closest they got was just trying to give us a better option, and they even fucked *that* up. And let me tell you, trying to search for a way stop people from finding very specific files you can create bots to look for is WAY easier than trying to automate a system that just searches for nebulous concepts like "dangerous content".

Like I said, do what you feel like you need to do but it's obvious that those in charge are more and more willing to make increasing machiavellian decisions to try control and public whose opinions are quickly spiraling out of control. And I REALLY doubt that calling your rep all "UwU swir, can you pwease not impede my abiwity to rwead supwernatural porwn onwine??" is going to sway them.

And the thing that they're really trying to stop, a changing worldview among youth driven by online discourse, is bound to fail because it's going to be hard to put *that* particular genie back in the bottle. If they wanted to curb the amount of sway that the internet could have over young people's opinions they needed to kill social media in its cradle in the mid-2000s. It's WAY too late for that.

You can be mad and disagree all you want but, how about a plan B? Just in case this, or any future law, gets pushed through by the stone age baby boomers. Try things like not using only the 5 largest social media sites for all of your needs. Learn how to use tor. Protect yourself online. Use platforms that can't be easily tracked. Back up shit you like so you have copies.

Alls I'm saying is MAYBE instead of playing the dumb game of "Maybe if we ask really nicely they'll do the right thing" we make a plan to use decentralized platforms that are far to large and varied to effectively police in any meaningful way. In hindsight, maybe we shouldn't have come to use large platforms to criticize power structures when the heads of those power structures also use those platforms. It just seems like bad planning.

Stop expecting that you can fight EVERY bill and start planning to do some illegal shit online.

[hikkikoaubrey]

Please read, don't scroll pass this. (II)

One the previous post I talked about the KOSA Bill and the TikTok Ban Bill as you can see above, but now for this post I'm going to talk about something of even greater importance. Project 2025.

Project 2025 is a plan from Republicans / Conservatives to seize total control of America from the inside out while destroying democracy in the process, ultimately turning America into a Christian nationalist militarized state. One of the main ways they plan on making this a reality is through Trump getting a second term as president.

If this comes to pass, this will ruin and even end the lives of many, and to make it worse, the changes caused by Project 2025 will still be in effect even long after Trump's second term ends.

We cannot let Trump when this election, and as much as I hate this, Biden is really our only choice since voting on a 3rd party will most likely won't work. I know Biden has a lot of problems, but we don't have a choice.

Here is some more links with some additional info (including the actual Project 2025 website), please look more into this and spread this around (even if you're not in America)

Website

Project 2025 | Presidential Transition Project

Videos

The Conservative Plan to Take Over the Country (you need to know about this) (youtube.com)

Project 2025: The Fascist Plan For America (youtube.com)

Tweets

Project 2025 (@Prjct2025) / X (twitter.com)

STOP THE COUP 2025 #StopProject2025 (@stopthecoup2025) / X (twitter.com)

https://x.com/oogamretsim/status/1769776085221220774?s=20

BMB Empower Network on X: "A guide to #Project2025, the extreme #rightwing agenda for the next #Republican administration, aims to roll back #civilrights and destroy the #federalgovernment. https://t.co/TVhHMRjjTD" / X (twitter.com)

NowThis Impact on X: "When conservatives tell you what their plan is, believe them. Here’s how Project 2025 aims to break down the U.S. government, dismantle the education system, institute a national abortion ban... and that’s just the beginning. https://t.co/htZORS5whU" / X (twitter.com)

https://x.com/cardon_brian/status/1772756740016099494?s=20

David Pepper on X: "🚨 🚨 NEW WHITEBOARD 2024 is being framed as Trump vs. Biden. But Trump’s unhinged Ohio speech the other day, his past actions, the ominous Project 2025, and more, make clear that the election really is about: Trump vs YOU… and your FREEDOM. WATCH, RT and then… https://t.co/qG0Nr5SYOj" / X (twitter.com)

https://x.com/ruthbenghiat/status/1770499903640264865?s=20

Kanis The Arctic Wolf 🔜 Florida on X: "WE CANNOT STAY SILENT ABOUT THIS! Project 2025 and KOSA are DANGEROUS, it’s a threat to all of our rights and democracy as a whole. If we don’t stand up for our rights now, we won’t have them to fight for later on. SPREAD THE WORD, DEFEND OUR RIGHTS, IT TAKES ALL OF US!" / X (twitter.com)

https://x.com/batzless/status/1770583846540509549?s=20

Tumblr Posts

[maliciousmace]

TIME SENSITIVE‼️‼️

I'm sure we all know even vaguely of the kosa bill that Republicans have been trying to get passed, if you do not I highly suggest looking into it, @/omarsbigsister on TikTok has a lot of videos on the topic, basically they want to censor the Internet under the guise of it being for the children. The reason this is "time sensitive" is due to the fact they are going to do a voice vote and try to sneakily get it passed. If even one senator says no on a voice vote it gets paused briefly, giving us more time. We need more than ever for you to call your senators, email too but mostly call, I get it it's uncomfortable to call them but it's only a few seconds and is over before you know it. Please call email and spread the word, we cannot let this get by.

https://www.badinternetbills.com/#kosa

[book-loving--anime-chick]

Just saw a commercial on TV for KOSA (Kids Online Safety Act) 🤮

Not so gentle reminder that censorship is bad and we cannot let this bill pass