Tell Your Representatives: Vote NO on KIDS!
Call BOTH of your Senators.
Call ONE of the Representatives. Note: only one of these Congressmembers represents you. Find out which one here.
Call script
My name is _____ and my zip code is _____. As a member of Indivisible SF, I am urging you to resist fascism and reject the revised version of H.R. 6484 – otherwise known as KOSA - that has now been incorporated into H.R. 7757, known as the KIDS Act. KIDS is a misguided bill that would put vulnerable young people at risk. While I believe that children deserve safety, KIDS does nothing to address the real harms threatening kids such as the widening chasm in funding for education, healthcare, and other support while continuing to ignore gun violence in schools and AI-generated child sexual abuse material. As it is currently written, the language of KIDS introduces a slippery slope into widespread internet censorship by incentivizing platforms to suppress content about LGBTQ resources, reproductive healthcare, and other lifesaving content for marginalized communities. Unless the “duty of care” language is removed to stop government censorship of content, KIDS remains a dangerous threat to democracy. Please protect privacy and stop the spread of censorship online by opposing KIDS.
<If you have a personal story involving a brush with a data privacy breach, share it! Please see the EFF’s list of harms below and consider how these situations might be personal to you and your family.>
Background
Update: The Republican-introduced Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act now incorporates KOSA.
Remember KOSA, the dangerous internet censorship bill that claims to protect children? Its proponents are trying once again to push this bill through.
The newest proponents are none other than Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino of X (formerly Twitter). You should be wary of any social media regulation bill they support. With their encouragement, Senators Blumenthal (D-CT) and Blackburn (R-TN), the bill’s sponsors, are making one last push to shove this bill down our throats. There’s some concern that they may try to attach the bill as a rider to any mandatory funding bills, though House Speaker Johnson has qualms about pushing a bill with such dire free-speech implications this hastily.
And make no mistake, the bill is still terrible for free speech. Despite its proponents’ claims that it’s now “content neutral”, it still restricts functionality related to multiple issues, so it remains dangerous to LGBTQ+, minorities, and anyone expressing dissent. Effectively the bill requires websites to identify people whom the service “knows is a minor” and restrict features that make certain content available to them. This can result in an age-gate (which might require proving your age and identity), but may also result in wholesale censorship of any content deemed too risky to host.
According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the harms include:
LGBTQ+ youth will be at risk of having content, educational material, and their own online identities erased.
Young people searching for information about their sexual health and reproductive rights will find their search results stymied.
Teens and children in historically oppressed and marginalized groups will be unable to locate online information about their history and shared experiences.
Activist youth on either side of the aisle, such as those fighting for changes to climate laws, gun laws, or religious rights, will be siloed, and unable to advocate and connect online.
Young people seeking mental health help and information will be blocked from finding it, because even discussions of suicide, depression, anxiety, and eating disorders will be hidden from them.
Teens hoping to combat the problem of addiction—either their own, or that of their friends, families, and neighbors—will not have the resources they need to do so.
Any young person seeking truthful news or information that could be considered depressing will find it harder to educate themselves and engage in current events and honest discussion.
Adults who are unwilling to share their identities will find themselves shunted onto a second-class internet alongside the young people who have been denied access to the full online public sphere.
The EFF has built a resource hub to educate and fight back against these intrusive surveillance measures. With the recent passage of the 18-bill online surveillance package out of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, it is more important than ever that we let our representatives know that this legislation is unacceptable.
As there have been significant changes made in the legislation, if it passes the House, it will have to be approved by the Senate again. So now is the time to also let our senators know that we oppose this legislation, which is bad for everyone.
We continue to oppose KIDS/KOSA and ask you to do the same.
Call your Representatives and tell them: We still want you to vote NO on KIDS/KOSA!
Resources and references
Check out the call to action for the original version of this bill
Learn more about actions you can take to oppose other Bad Internet Bills
Read a more in-depth analysis of the Constitutional threats KOSA poses
Learn why this is no way to implement age verification without sacrificing privacy
This Week's US Congressional Call Scripts:
