With All The Other Nonsense Going On, Senate Democrats’ Priority Is To Spy On Kids Online?
from the this-is-a-really-bad-bill dept
I do not understand the Democratic Party in the US for a wide variety of reasons. But one of the most confusing thing about them is their priorities. With everything else going on in the world that needs serious attention from Congress right now, Senate Dems have decided to host a markup on one of the worst, most ridiculous bills they’ve come up with in a long, long time: the “Kids Online Safety Act.”
I wrote about just how terrible a bill this is back when it was introduced in February by Senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn — two Senators who have a long and well documented history of hating on the internet and wishing to basically destroy it.
The bill is very much the typical “but think of the children!” kind of legislation that (I’m sure, coincidentally) always becomes popular right around election season. As we explained at the time, the bill assumes a lot of completely unproven things about how much “harm” the internet does to kids, and decides that companies need to magically stop the bad stuff. It ignores that companies put tons of efforts into stopping bad stuff on their platforms but (1) it’s a much more difficult problem than people realize and part of the reason it’s so difficult is that (2) trying to silence kids talking about certain topics has a long history of absolutely backfiring and making problems worse. We’ve seen that with actual data regarding things like eating disorders and suicide.
Forcing websites to take down such content, without addressing the underlying reasons why kids are seeking out such information does not help. Even worse, the mechanisms in this bill would basically just mean constant, unending, intrusive surveillance of every kid online. That’s awful.
This is not to say that people should let kids roam the internet willy nilly, but it is important to actually teach them how to handle the internet in an age appropriate way. Spying on kids at all times teaches kids the exact wrong lesson. It normalizes constant surveillance and privacy invasions and also never lets kids really learn for themselves and take responsibility.
Especially given the recent concerns over abortion data and access to abortion information, Democrats should be running away from this bill rather than supporting it. As policy expert Josh Lamel notes, if the Kids Online Safety Act becomes law, a Republican FTC or state Attorney General could force websites to block teen access to any abortion information.
KOSA will allow a Republican FTC or Republican State AG to force Internet platforms to block teen access to any abortion access or information that is not “pro-life” community approved. It has two provisions that can be used for this. First, “harmful content” and second, content and services “unlawful for minors”. A republican FTC will almost definitely use this as a cudgel on abortion issues. So will Republican State AGs.
KOSA will allow a Republican AG to file a federal court action to prevent access to information at all about sex online under the “harmful content” provision. This includes contraception info, STD info & so much more. Do you trust this fed. judiciary w/that?
He goes on to note that the bill could be used to enable parents to spy on their kids, and even to find out if their kids are purchasing contraception online. It’s a privacy nightmare at a time when we need more privacy, not less.
So, why the hell is Senator Maria Cantwell moving this bill forward? It’s not just preposterous, but it’s downright dangerous.
Bizarrely, by the way, the very same markup will review the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act, which is supposed to extend privacy protections aimed at protecting children 12 and under to those 16 and under. But if the Kids Online Safety Act becomes law, kids will have no privacy at all.
Filed Under: blocking, for the children, ftc, kids online safety bill, kosa, maria cantwell, markup, marsha blackburn, richard blumenthal, spying, state ags
Comments on “With All The Other Nonsense Going On, Senate Democrats’ Priority Is To Spy On Kids Online?”
‘Think of the Kids’ when used by politicians really means let us control and censor the Internet so that it only contains kid friendly content.
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Is this bill even constitutional?
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Violates the First Amendment, I believe, so no.
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Technically, anyone who espouses “Think of x” or something similar needs to be viewed with suspicion.
They are more than likely willing to throw whoever they’re “protecting” under the bus when push comes to shove.
Doubly so for politicians.
When you hear a politician exclaim that they want to “protect the kids” from an issue, you know that very politician doesn’t have any respect for kids.
We already have abortion information being hidden away…
https://www.joemygod.com/2022/07/ok-librarians-banned-from-offering-abortion-info/
These laws exist to make “parents” feel better about not taking the time to actually raise their kids. (period full stop)
They are allowed to opt out of having to explain how they want their kids to use the internet.
They get to skip explaining to kids that not everything they see online is real.
Then they want to right to sue when a corporation didn’t show more concern for their child than they ever did.
Death filling in for the Hogfather comes to mind…
“You can’t give her that!’ she screamed. ‘It’s not safe!’
IT’S A SWORD, said the Hogfather. THEY’RE NOT MEANT TO BE SAFE.
‘She’s a child!’ shouted Crumley.
IT’S EDUCATIONAL.
‘What if she cuts herself?’
THAT WILL BE AN IMPORTANT LESSON.”
― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather
They hand their children to the internet, that they themselves do not understand, and expect it to care about the children. Its not alive, its not capable of caring, it is a tool, tools can be used for bad or good, to make the best use of tools one should be taught their proper use before being turned loose without supervision.
(Although I do enjoy the few times some moron shoves his leg into a wood chipper to clear a clog).
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Then they want the right to sue when a corporation didn’t take over the parents’ abdicated responsibility of raising their kids is nearer the case.
How likely is the bill to pass?
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Right now it’s going through a mark-up session, so it’ll probably won’t be voted on the floor level before Congress leaves for the August Recess. But after that, the chances they will return to that subject and will possibly vote on it.
Who wants the gov. to be a baby sitter?
Song and dance.
Good thing there's nothing more important they could be doing
Bizarrely, by the way, the very same markup will review the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act, which is supposed to extend privacy protections aimed at protecting children 12 and under to those 16 and under. But if the Kids Online Safety Act becomes law, kids will have no privacy at all.
Senate Democrats: It is vital that we protect the privacy of children and teens online!
Also Senate Democrats: It is vital that we ensure that children and teens are never not being watched online!
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Its the political mindset… its only bad if its not US doing it.
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Is that ‘us’ or ‘US’? Because it works both ways…
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Maybe they should just ask FB and the advertisers to watch over the kids, they all ready do that for everyone anyways (adults included) right along side the NSA.
Big government -v- small government AKA states rights
This is not to say that people should let kids roam the internet willy nilly 100%; that’s the parents job, not the government.
So, why the hell is Senator Maria Cantwell moving this bill forward? Bloody good question; she is/was pro-choice, is/was pro $15/h minimum wage, her other policies seems a bit centrist and wishy-washy.
Difficult to see how enforceable at the state level this might be if VPNs become more mainstream with the younger generation.
Pretty sure its bullshit like this that leads to people not voting against their non-prefered party/voting for the orange oaf saying they would do something different
It just passed through committee. Unanimously. Less than an hour after the meeting began.
These feckless idiots should take responsibility for enabling an extremist minority of fascists to take control of the country. They are incompetent in everything they do other than taking away my rights. Their opponents are even more adept at rights erosion. Who says they don’t cooperate? I would like to replace them all with those guys that stand on the off ramp with a sign that says “will work for food”. It would be a cost savings and an improvement in management for sure.
Yo do t understand Democrats
You don’t understand Democrats because you’re wilfully blind. They are fascists. They are authoritarians. You refuse to believe that are accepted or even see that it’s possibility because you’re so blinded by partisan hatred. Democrats are the ones primarily and constantly pushing for reductions in freedoms and ever expanding control of people’s lives. It’s so obvious anyone can see it now, even democrats When you look at recent polling. When you look at recent polling. The only people not seeing it are wilfully blind. Period.