The lead sponsor of the "Kids Online Safety Act," known as KOSA, has stated that it will be used to "protect minor children from the transgender in our culture" in an interview released this weekend.
We all already know that liberals are going to sell out underrepresented groups to be able to say they held hands across parties lines to "accomplish something great". They'll happily throw us under the bus if it gets them bonus points for reelection.
I think this bill could be salvaged by adding more explicit language about what constitutes as 'harmful' and even more explicitly what does *not*. Then, if Republicans want to kill the bill for actually being helpful instead of a discriminatory tool, that's on them. I'm not sure coming out completely against it is the right move. The mental health crisis among youth as a whole is really reaching a fever pitch and companies like Meta are being WILDLY unethical about how they peddle their drug. This is one of those situations where everyone agrees that something needs to be done, but there are multiple bad actors running around.
Obviously it could be abused, but the “consistent with evidence-informed medical information“ part seems like it could actually be used against hate speech easier than lgbtq community. The evidence shows that community and acceptance helps our mental states, and bigotry hurts it. Am I being too hopeful?
Well what do we know, Sen. Blackburn is going to tell it like it is (in her deluded mind). And our president, the one we cherished so much for beating Trump, as well as several more in "our" party, are OK with it. What the F is this? Did Biden not read the provisions this bill requires, it's censorship, it's putting the onus on the service, to police its content, to an extent that is essentially impossible. This will *bar* minors, even at 17 years 364 days old, from having access to *information* itself. The Democrats better wake the hell up, here.
I have already faced bans, blocks, and targetted harassment online for being a trans woman and just discussing issues of gender on social media platforms. Knowing this could become backed by legislation is disgusting and terrifying.
I'm not seeing what the problem is with the actual legislation (in the section you highlighted). Yes, people can interpret it differently and say they're acting "to comply with the law". But they could say that about anything. It could easily be taken the other way to say that platforms are obliged to provide support for LGBTQ+ minors in order to prevent depression etc. At least that's how I read it based on that short excerpt.
Mike Masnick–if you'll remember–was the person who coined the term "Streisand Effect".
(Also, there is a transmisiac in the comments section but he's being flagged and rightfully lambasted by the other commenters (including yours truly) for his genocidal transmisia.)
It would be nice if Biden and the Dems did wake up and realize the what could be the adverse consequences for our community. Disheartening is the lack of a significant response by our own organizations. Yes, social media is a large problem for our country but what is a bigger problem is the conservative machine subtly undermining the freedoms in this country and the lack of a robust response. Explicit protections for the LGBT+ community in a bill like this could be added but that won't stop the continued assault and hate from the conservative right. The bill itself seems overly broad and just that should cancel it or have it overturned in the courts but given a Scotus and federal bench stuffed with Trump appointees I would be loath to put my trust in them or the legislative branch to do the right thing.
We all already know that liberals are going to sell out underrepresented groups to be able to say they held hands across parties lines to "accomplish something great". They'll happily throw us under the bus if it gets them bonus points for reelection.
I think this bill could be salvaged by adding more explicit language about what constitutes as 'harmful' and even more explicitly what does *not*. Then, if Republicans want to kill the bill for actually being helpful instead of a discriminatory tool, that's on them. I'm not sure coming out completely against it is the right move. The mental health crisis among youth as a whole is really reaching a fever pitch and companies like Meta are being WILDLY unethical about how they peddle their drug. This is one of those situations where everyone agrees that something needs to be done, but there are multiple bad actors running around.
Obviously it could be abused, but the “consistent with evidence-informed medical information“ part seems like it could actually be used against hate speech easier than lgbtq community. The evidence shows that community and acceptance helps our mental states, and bigotry hurts it. Am I being too hopeful?
Well what do we know, Sen. Blackburn is going to tell it like it is (in her deluded mind). And our president, the one we cherished so much for beating Trump, as well as several more in "our" party, are OK with it. What the F is this? Did Biden not read the provisions this bill requires, it's censorship, it's putting the onus on the service, to police its content, to an extent that is essentially impossible. This will *bar* minors, even at 17 years 364 days old, from having access to *information* itself. The Democrats better wake the hell up, here.
I have already faced bans, blocks, and targetted harassment online for being a trans woman and just discussing issues of gender on social media platforms. Knowing this could become backed by legislation is disgusting and terrifying.
I'm not seeing what the problem is with the actual legislation (in the section you highlighted). Yes, people can interpret it differently and say they're acting "to comply with the law". But they could say that about anything. It could easily be taken the other way to say that platforms are obliged to provide support for LGBTQ+ minors in order to prevent depression etc. At least that's how I read it based on that short excerpt.
Erin, I just want to congratulate you on this story being approvingly picked up by Mike Masnick for Techdirt: https://www.techdirt.com/2023/09/06/marsha-blackburn-makes-it-clear-kosa-is-designed-to-silence-trans-people/
Mike Masnick–if you'll remember–was the person who coined the term "Streisand Effect".
(Also, there is a transmisiac in the comments section but he's being flagged and rightfully lambasted by the other commenters (including yours truly) for his genocidal transmisia.)
It would be nice if Biden and the Dems did wake up and realize the what could be the adverse consequences for our community. Disheartening is the lack of a significant response by our own organizations. Yes, social media is a large problem for our country but what is a bigger problem is the conservative machine subtly undermining the freedoms in this country and the lack of a robust response. Explicit protections for the LGBT+ community in a bill like this could be added but that won't stop the continued assault and hate from the conservative right. The bill itself seems overly broad and just that should cancel it or have it overturned in the courts but given a Scotus and federal bench stuffed with Trump appointees I would be loath to put my trust in them or the legislative branch to do the right thing.