The so-called “Kids Online Safety Act” is a dangerous, poorly-thought-out bill that has now passed the Senate. We must stop this bill from becoming law.

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We’ve enjoyed decades of online life with strong protections for freedom of speech. It’s a complicated subject of rights and responsibilities, just as life—online and off—is complicated. But while the current state of things is not perfect and there may still be room for improvement, it’s a pretty good balance on the whole.

A bill introduced in the previous Congress and reintroduced in this year threatens to upset that balance. As is so often the case, the proposal is ostensibly “for the children;” the new bill is called the Kids Online Safety Act. It would force messaging services like iMessage, Signal, and WhatsApp, along with social media services like Twitter, Facebook, and Mastodon, to gatekeep who can participate in online life and to monitor what we say.

This is a dangerous, poorly-thought-out bill with a dangerously high number of bipartisan cosponsors in the Senate. We must stop this bill from becoming law.

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