KOSA is a bill that aims to protect children online but it would do so in harmful ways. First, it would pressure platforms to install content filters that would censor large amounts of content, including important suicide prevention and LGBTQ+ support resources. Content filters have a history of overblocking important information. Second, KOSA would ramp up online surveillance of all users by expanding age verification and parental monitoring tools. These tools are unnecessarily invasive and pose risks to young people trying to escape abuse. Over 90 rights groups agree that KOSA is dangerous and cannot be fixed through amendments. If you value a free and open internet, contact your lawmakers to reject KOSA.
Since it is “for the children”, I’m sure they won’t give a shit about censorship.
Prepare your VPNs. This will be one hell of a ride.
teach your kids about privacy online, later to use tor and I2p
Using Tor is considered terrorist activity in France
https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/336989
Why couldn’t the US just do the same?
Internet freedom and privacy needs not only needs protection by technological tools like Tor or VPNs, but also needs legal protection. Would anyone use Tor if the government starts raiding houses? Tor users are such a small minority that the government can easily throw you all in prison.
I’ve known about Tor since like middle school but have been scared downloading it will get me on some watchlist. Or at the very least, tracked harder whenever I’m not on a Tor browser for whatever reason.
I live in the United States of America. Tor was developed by my own country’s naval research laboratory.
I’ve heard that most Tor nodes are controlled by the US government and the whole system is basically a honey pot, so why would they worry?
Why is there always an authoritarian law being proposed every month?
Because some folks really seem to like power? And emotion is a solid button to press because a lot of folks are irrational monkeys.
Edit: most - > a lot of
I like the phrase “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
KOSA is not the only thing one should be worried about, illiterates from UK are bringing in an Online Safety Bill which needs all services with encryption to provide a backdoor for the UK government under the reasoning of “monitoring for CSAM content”.
This doesn’t just impact UK citizens, but will do for the world.
If I recall correctly, Australia did something similar.
Interesting to see how the 5-eyes try to push similar dumb ideas together.
Australia did something recently, yes. It’s called the AA Bill. And it allows for the government to demand a worker put a backdoor in to an encryption product. The absolutely stupid thing is that if the government does this, the worker can’t tell a soul about it for fear of prison. If (when) it comes up in code review, they’re still not allowed to tell anyone. If they do, it’s straight off to prison. Where does it stop. I was hopeful that tech companies would abandon australia when this happened, but they didn’t. They just rolled over and took it up the arse pipe. Fucking hell. This is a good write up
That’s not even mentioning what google is trying to do currently.
‘murica gets worse
Because someone has to care about the children.Don’t you care about the children? The chidlren. CHILDREN!
Well, yes, I do care about the children. That’s why I want these legislators to stop trying to harm them.
Because we’ve hit the point of capitalism where the system is imploding on itself, and so those in power turn to fascism in order to protect their capital.
we’ve hit the point of capitalism where…
Oh, you mean its literal inception? This shit never worked.
That’s kinda historically illiterate. The reason people tolerated Capitalism in the first place was that it smashed old forms of oppression and replaced them with less bad forms of oppression.
Being marginally better than feudalism isn’t a very high bar.
Rights for everyone when there’s a boom, cracking down on rights when the cake stops growing.
What does this have to do with capitalism?
When people are starting to starve and there are no more monkeys that can entertain the masses, the spirit of rebellion starts to rise from the ashes.
So the established powers that be have two options: violently suppress the masses. Or acquiesce some level of control, power, or ultimately capital.
The powers that be would rather die than give up their money. So fascism it is!
Very dark and edgy 👏 Heres your award 🥇
Well excuse me for trying to write an entertaining explanation while the earth is burning down from unchecked capitalist greed.
I guess people just aren’t allowed to have fun anymore :/
Here’s your award for being a boring and unhelpful person 🥇
These bills are going to keep coming. The goal is erosion of rights and privacy at all costs.
My entire life, they have never, ever once stopped trying to push the same bullshit through, over and over and over.
It’s so goddamn exhausting. A constant battle of attrition.
I’m just tired… When do I get to just enjoy my life?
When the populace collectively grows a brain and replaces these clowns with someone honest. People voted for these legislators, keep in mind.
Same thing with banning books. This is fascist bullshit and it’s not about protecting children or anyone else. It’s about pushing their false Christianity, their christofascism on everyone whether they like it or not and trying to turn the country into a fascist “Christian” theocractic dictatorship where they can say and do whatever they want whenever they want about anything or anyone but no one else can.
I was with you til the “false” part. As someone who grew up in a sect that actually read the book, ain’t nothing false about this Christianity or these Christians.
It’s inconvenient to admit, but the bible is an awful awful book.
I have actually read it cover to cover as well. But just because something is written in a book doesn’t make it true. The genre of fiction exists. And the very concept of religion, all of them are made up. As in there was a time in the history of Earth where no religion existed. Dinosaurs didn’t have religion for example, and they came before humans, who created religion.
Jesus, whom they claim to love/worship/etc., would be labeled a dirty commie/socialist by them for wanting to help the poor, sick, and needy. And for loving everyone. They hate Jesus. They worship supply side Jesus AKA Republican Jesus.
“Protect the children” is the new “fight terror”. Big empty phrases that only end up taking away rights and targeting minorities.
Possibly even worse since it’s very often used as a cover for CSA. Not just minorities in this case that are being harmed, we’re talking about literal children. It’s fucking horrific.
True, but not new. It’s been this since before “fight terror” in fact.
“The war on drugs” has entered the chat
Won’t someone please think of the children?!
Yes, true. I guess its more of a shitty comeback, worse than before.
It’s coined as the “Helen Lovejoy Syndrome” after a Simpson’s episode from the nineties.
Won’t somebody please think of the children?
“Fight terror” has only really be an excuse since 9/11. Before they had others including protecting children. Only the anti-trans stuff is newish.
Always has been.
Mighty convenient how so many of these “protect the children” groups end up with kiddie diddlers on staff.
https://news.yahoo.com/alabama-anti-abortion-advocate-charged-190424945.html
protect children online
I’ve yet to see any single new law proposal, that actually tackles this problem rather than misusing it’s emotional trigger to get acceptance for surveillance and control
Meanwhile… child labor protections? Who needs em? Protections against child marriage (or let’s call it what it is, rape)? They’ll be fine. God wills it, after all, and it’s in the Bible (or so they’re told, very few of them actually read it).
Meanwhile, actual abuse is happening constantly in the Catholic (and others) church, and what do they do? Just shuffle 'em around a little bit. They “repented”, so that means we can leave him alone with kids in Montana now instead of New Mexico. Problem solved! Thank the lord!
These fuckers have zero interest in actually protecting children, and for a good chunk of them, they’re actively working toward the exact opposite.
WHY ARE “THE CHILDREN” ONLINE!!! Where are their fucking parents?
I was online as a child. It’s normal. Get used to it. Quit trying to break the Internet over it. Kids aren’t delicate little flowers. No one’s head exploded over seeing Lenna’s nipple. (Not their big head, anyway…)
I was, too, but agree with me or disagree, the intern back then wasn’t as bad as it is right now.
Maybe so, but that’s not because of the availability of porn, gore, or shady characters to chat with, all of which were already plentiful in the '90s. It’s because of things like money-sucking video games targeted at kids, and unless I’m mistaken, KOSA does exactly diddly squat about it.
Overworked, underpaid, and relying on technology to distract the kids. Not a lot different from 80’s and 90’s parents, except you know, poorer and more time-strapped.
Same here, overworked and underpaid, two kids. Neither has a smartphone nor has access to any social media site beside kids YouTube and Netflix. I meant kids shouldn’t be on social media, in my original comment. I always utilize the iPad for my daughter when I’m working or need her to sit so I can get shit done. My son, who’s the oldest, doesn’t have a phone yet. He has two gaming consoles, neither of them has online access for multiplayer. That’s what I mean by why are kids on the internet.
Not trying to dog on other parents, but just like when I was growing up a lot of parents either didn’t know/didn’t care what their kids were watching on TV, and didn’t make a lot of effort to control it. Many parents now are sadly similar in not paying attention to their kids’ internet habits.
You’re being a good parent. I don’t know why other people struggle with this idea. In my opinion, you should just be proud of yourself and disappointed in other parents who don’t take the same measures.
I will say those other parents make it difficult, though. My sister had to drop a lot of her parental controls eventually because her kids would go to friends’ houses with unrestricted internet access, and you just can’t control that. Even if you are involved with what your kids watch at home, once they are out of your eyesight and with other people, they can get access. Anyway, denying them access was causing more fights between her and her kids than it was worth. They saw that other kids had unrestricted access, and they wanted that, too. On the plus side, they were already 14 by this time, but still, it became a huge headache because other parents didn’t care.
Anyway once again, good on you, mate. Keep being a thoughtful and involved parent, we need more of y’all.
Darth Vader wants to protect children… Right.
People need to take more responsibility for their kids - if you let them online, you’d better fucking understand what that entails and if not (gasp!) don’t let them on the internet.
And if that’s impossible for someone then why the fuck did they reproduce in the first place?
Because reproduction is a lot easier than education
Because their god told them to reproduce and not question it.
Religion is a hell of a drug.
