The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) Must Fail

October 7, 2023

There are few things that you can count on Congress for. Dysfunction is one, horrible laws and bills that affect the Internet is another. Right now, there is a bill in Congress called the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) that is so absolutely awful, it should not be allowed to pass. Sadly though, right now it looks like it may have the votes, and it also has the support of Joe Biden.

A cartoon showing a man representing corporate media offering to wrap a package depicting control of internet speech in either 'anti-terrorism' wrapping paper, or 'protect the kids' wrapping paper

I'm not certain of the source of this comic, but it's been circulating since the early 2000s and is as accurate now as it was then

The law is awful on so many levels, the biggest problem is that it will allow state attorney generals to sue and threaten to sue online sites that have content that is "harmful to children". The problem with that is that what is considered harmful is not defined...at all. It would allow AGs to sue if they even thought content was harmful.

Members of the GOP have already said it will be used to target the LGBT community. So has the Heritage Foundation. So now we have a community that is already being attacked from the right being given more to worry about.

You know how all the book bans being instituted by the right? Well this is going to give them even more ammunition and tools to do so much more, only now nationwide.

Another side effect is that online age verification is going to be implemented a lot more. And remember, this will almost always involve the user uploading a copy of your drivers license. So many sites can barely keep your email and password secure...imagine the security on your drivers license or state issued ID...lovely!

I'm by no means the best person to speak of all the ills of this bill, so I would encourage you to read more from those who are far better at this than me.

The Internet Is About to Get a Lot Worse

Influencers Starting To Realize How The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) Will Do Real Damage

KOSA Won’t Make The Internet Safer For Kids. So What Will?

The Kids Online Safety Act is Still A Huge Danger to Our Rights Online

So I urge all Americans reading this, contact your representatives and urge them to not support this.