Dhoomstriker
Girlie Builder
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2006
- Messages
- 13,474
https://tuta.com/blog/kosa-threatens-free-speech
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At the end of July 2024, the US Senate passed the a version of KOSA with a 91-3 vote. With this new step towards becoming law, the US House of Representatives can now vote on this bill [as soon as September].
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is not new, and was introduced in 2022 by Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal. The bill was quickly sidelined by privacy rights groups, tech companies, and children's safety organizations who opposed the bill's vague wording and feared unforeseen ramifications from one phrase in particular, "duty of care." Critics of the bill are concerned that placing a "duty of care" onto social media companies (and onto other online platforms which are not exempt from the legal requirements) will end up censoring certain content determined to be controversial or harmful by individual state legislatures. This could lead to information droughts in certain parts of the country where information related to LGBTQ+ medicine, self-harm, eating disorders, or suicide may become censored and unavailable to those who need it most.
Criticism of the revised version of KOSA remains strong. The major point of concern is the persistence of vague language related to "duty of care" and the fear that this may lead to wider internet censorship as platforms scramble to try and create age-verification systems in order to comply with the new law. This push for compliance may lead to an overly aggressive moderation policy which could censor otherwise protected information and content. This censorship would likely spill over, not only impacting the internet activity of persons under 18 years of age, but also that of legal adults.
Evan Greer, deputy director of the Fight for the Future digital rights group sounded the alarm against this bill:
"We have urged KOSA's sponsors to change the bill by removing the overly broad ‘duty of care,' which is an inherently flawed model that gives the government too much power to control speech and replace it with strict regulations on how companies collect and use data... The First Amendment prevents the government from dictating what speech platforms can recommend to younger users, but we can absolutely ban companies from harvesting our kids' data and using it to recommend content to them."
Being a teenager is not going to stop being difficult; being a parent or a teacher is not going to stop being difficult; but in order for those in power to protect the next generation they need to wholeheartedly listen to their problems rather than trying to hide them beneath a false-sense-of-security blanket.
The silencing of information does nothing to protect the children.
If we are to honor the First Amendment and protect the freedom of expression online or in real life we need to oppose any form of legislation which seeks to limit access to information.
Free access to information has never posed and will never pose a threat to the next generation.
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https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/11/kosa-would-let-government-control-what-young-people-see-online
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To ensure that users are the correct age, KOSA compels vast data collection efforts that perversely result in even greater potential privacy invasions.
KOSA would authorize a federal study on creating a device or operating system level age verification system, "including the need for potential hardware and software changes." The end result would likely be an elaborate age-verification system, run by a third-party, that maintains an enormous database of all internet users' data.
Many of the risks of such a program are obvious. They require every user--including children--to hand private data over to a third-party simply to use a website if that user ever wants to see beyond the government's "parental" controls.
Instead of using super-powered age-verification to determine who gets the most privacy, and then using that same determination to restrict access to huge amounts of content, Congress should focus on creating strict privacy safeguards for everyone. Real privacy protections that prohibit data collection without opt-in consent address the concerns about children's privacy while rendering age-verification unnecessary. Congress should get serious about protecting privacy and pass legislation that creates a strong, comprehensive privacy floor with robust enforcement tools.
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https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...it-will-harm-kids/?comments=1&comments-page=1
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The Dark said:
KOSA also requires adults and minors be treated differently by websites, which will require deanonymization of the internet. All the articles about PornHub blocking access from states that require ID scans? Yeah, replace that with Spotify and Apple Music and Disney+ requiring ID scans to ensure they know whether or not you're a minor.
Aurich said:
Why can't we just regulate what platforms are allowed to do with sucking up our data, from everyone, of all ages, and not try and regulate what people are allowed to say?
Data hoovering? Bad!
Speech restriction? Also bad!
Disagreeing with someone's viewpoint isn't a good reason to crush it. One of the examples in the article was "pro-life messages." I'm adamantly pro-choice. I don't think people who disagree with me should be silenced.
I formed my pro-choice opinions long before I was an adult. Kids aren't dumb. Trying to hide information from them just makes them more ignorant, not more protected.
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https://act.eff.org/action/tell-congress-kosa-will-censor-the-internet-but-won-t-help-kids
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Tell Congress: KOSA Will Censor the Internet But Won't Help Kids
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) would censor the internet and would make government officials the arbiters of what young people can see online. It will likely lead to age verification, handing more power, and private data, to third-party identity verification companies
On July 30, KOSA passed the U.S. Senate. But many Representatives in the House are concerned with the bill's impact on free speech. KOSA is a heavy-handed plan to prevent minors from accessing content that the government believes is not in their best interest.
Tell your Representative to vote NO on this bill.
----------
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
You can use the Electronic Frontier Foundation's email tool to share your feedback with the House of Representatives:
https://act.eff.org/action/tell-congress-kosa-will-censor-the-internet-but-won-t-help-kids
You can alternately look up the email contact information for the House of Representatives and send an email message of your own:
https://www.eff.org/congress
Note that the House is in a summer recess until September.
The bill itself:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/1409
----------
At the end of July 2024, the US Senate passed the a version of KOSA with a 91-3 vote. With this new step towards becoming law, the US House of Representatives can now vote on this bill [as soon as September].
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is not new, and was introduced in 2022 by Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal. The bill was quickly sidelined by privacy rights groups, tech companies, and children's safety organizations who opposed the bill's vague wording and feared unforeseen ramifications from one phrase in particular, "duty of care." Critics of the bill are concerned that placing a "duty of care" onto social media companies (and onto other online platforms which are not exempt from the legal requirements) will end up censoring certain content determined to be controversial or harmful by individual state legislatures. This could lead to information droughts in certain parts of the country where information related to LGBTQ+ medicine, self-harm, eating disorders, or suicide may become censored and unavailable to those who need it most.
Criticism of the revised version of KOSA remains strong. The major point of concern is the persistence of vague language related to "duty of care" and the fear that this may lead to wider internet censorship as platforms scramble to try and create age-verification systems in order to comply with the new law. This push for compliance may lead to an overly aggressive moderation policy which could censor otherwise protected information and content. This censorship would likely spill over, not only impacting the internet activity of persons under 18 years of age, but also that of legal adults.
Evan Greer, deputy director of the Fight for the Future digital rights group sounded the alarm against this bill:
"We have urged KOSA's sponsors to change the bill by removing the overly broad ‘duty of care,' which is an inherently flawed model that gives the government too much power to control speech and replace it with strict regulations on how companies collect and use data... The First Amendment prevents the government from dictating what speech platforms can recommend to younger users, but we can absolutely ban companies from harvesting our kids' data and using it to recommend content to them."
Being a teenager is not going to stop being difficult; being a parent or a teacher is not going to stop being difficult; but in order for those in power to protect the next generation they need to wholeheartedly listen to their problems rather than trying to hide them beneath a false-sense-of-security blanket.
The silencing of information does nothing to protect the children.
If we are to honor the First Amendment and protect the freedom of expression online or in real life we need to oppose any form of legislation which seeks to limit access to information.
Free access to information has never posed and will never pose a threat to the next generation.
----------
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/11/kosa-would-let-government-control-what-young-people-see-online
----------
To ensure that users are the correct age, KOSA compels vast data collection efforts that perversely result in even greater potential privacy invasions.
KOSA would authorize a federal study on creating a device or operating system level age verification system, "including the need for potential hardware and software changes." The end result would likely be an elaborate age-verification system, run by a third-party, that maintains an enormous database of all internet users' data.
Many of the risks of such a program are obvious. They require every user--including children--to hand private data over to a third-party simply to use a website if that user ever wants to see beyond the government's "parental" controls.
Instead of using super-powered age-verification to determine who gets the most privacy, and then using that same determination to restrict access to huge amounts of content, Congress should focus on creating strict privacy safeguards for everyone. Real privacy protections that prohibit data collection without opt-in consent address the concerns about children's privacy while rendering age-verification unnecessary. Congress should get serious about protecting privacy and pass legislation that creates a strong, comprehensive privacy floor with robust enforcement tools.
----------
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...it-will-harm-kids/?comments=1&comments-page=1
----------
The Dark said:
KOSA also requires adults and minors be treated differently by websites, which will require deanonymization of the internet. All the articles about PornHub blocking access from states that require ID scans? Yeah, replace that with Spotify and Apple Music and Disney+ requiring ID scans to ensure they know whether or not you're a minor.
Aurich said:
Why can't we just regulate what platforms are allowed to do with sucking up our data, from everyone, of all ages, and not try and regulate what people are allowed to say?
Data hoovering? Bad!
Speech restriction? Also bad!
Disagreeing with someone's viewpoint isn't a good reason to crush it. One of the examples in the article was "pro-life messages." I'm adamantly pro-choice. I don't think people who disagree with me should be silenced.
I formed my pro-choice opinions long before I was an adult. Kids aren't dumb. Trying to hide information from them just makes them more ignorant, not more protected.
----------
https://act.eff.org/action/tell-congress-kosa-will-censor-the-internet-but-won-t-help-kids
----------
Tell Congress: KOSA Will Censor the Internet But Won't Help Kids
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) would censor the internet and would make government officials the arbiters of what young people can see online. It will likely lead to age verification, handing more power, and private data, to third-party identity verification companies
On July 30, KOSA passed the U.S. Senate. But many Representatives in the House are concerned with the bill's impact on free speech. KOSA is a heavy-handed plan to prevent minors from accessing content that the government believes is not in their best interest.
Tell your Representative to vote NO on this bill.
----------
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
You can use the Electronic Frontier Foundation's email tool to share your feedback with the House of Representatives:
https://act.eff.org/action/tell-congress-kosa-will-censor-the-internet-but-won-t-help-kids
You can alternately look up the email contact information for the House of Representatives and send an email message of your own:
https://www.eff.org/congress
Note that the House is in a summer recess until September.
The bill itself:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/1409
Last edited:
