The Bad Internet Bills of 2023
Introduction
To many citizens of the United States of America, bad bill proposals are nothing new. Unfortunately, the last few years have seen an increase in ‘bad bills’ from all walks of the political spectrum; bills that are vague, sloppily worded, or just plain terrible! This year is no exception. Let’s take a look at some of the bills targeting internet usage: their wording, their intent, and, most importantly, their most likely outcome.
Online Safety for Kids
Before getting into the nitty-gritty of these internet bills, it’s important to understand the disconnect between what many senators believe will make the internet safer for kids and what actually helps. The internet circa the early 2000s had plenty of spaces tailor-made just for kids; from Club Penguin to Barbie.com to Disney Channel to Webkinz, the early-ish internet was a paradise! Unfortunately, it didn’t last. Many of the spaces that once existed just for kids are gone, and many others have become plagued with ads or locked behind a paywall. With spaces just for them diminishing in number and quality, many kids are migrating to sites like YouTube and Fortnite - free-for-all sites where they’re more likely to stumble on mature content or pick up unhealthy habits. The internet doesn’t need censorship - it needs spaces for kids to be kids.
Bad Bills
So, just what are these bills, and why are they bad? The most notable among them is the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). KOSA is a bill intended to protect the safety of children on the internet. On the surface, that sounds like a good thing, but let’s look a bit most closely at what KOSA intends to do. “The legislation would require social media platforms put the interests of children first by requiring platforms to make safety the default and to give kids and parents tools to help prevent the destructive impact of social media” (KOSA). The wording here is extremely vague - the bill would hold social media and other “covered platforms” liable if they fail to design their platforms in such a way as to prevent users under the age of eighteen from content deemed inappropriate for them. What sort of content? The bill explicitly mentions “selfharm, suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, and sexual exploitation” (KOSA). Once again, this sounds like a good idea, but how far do those parameters extend? Is an exercise blog promoting eating disorders? Is a page for a (legal) dispensary promoting substance abuse? Even more disturbingly, will angry parents begin targeting LGBTQ+ groups as “sexually exploitative”?
Other similar bills foster the same concerns. The Federal EARN IT Act and STOP CSAM Act employ similarly vague language that would likely be used to target information online about reproductive health, gender identity, and sexuality. Furthermore, since both these bills impose liability on websites even without the sites’ knowledge, it would encourage sites to do things like scan all content and force users to verify their ages, which creates an atmosphere of surveillance on internet platforms that they’re better off without! The Federal RESTRICT Act and Federal Cooper Davis Act likewise raise concerns about fostering an environment of scrutiny and surveillance online. Just vote “NO”!
Say “NO” To Online Censorship
History has shown that once censorship takes hold on even the smallest of scales, it’s very unlikely to stop. Bills like those mentioned above present three major concerns: first, since the content that must be kept away from minors is often vaguely defined, most platforms will err on the side of caution by blocking quite a bit of information entirely to avoid liability. This will ultimately affect not just minors, but internet users of all ages. Second, since platforms only have to avoid exposure to minors, it encourages platforms to verify the ages of all their users, which would severely cripple the ability of any user to be anonymous online anywhere. Since it is difficult to truly verify the ages of online users, websites might begin resorting to increasingly invasive age and identity checks if servers decide to crack down, raising further concerns about privacy and surveillance online. Third, it isn’t the platforms who would decide what content is considered harmful to children: the bill leaves that decision in the hands of the Federal Trade Commission and the individual states. This is concerning in light of some of the blatantly anti-LGBTQ+ laws that some states have passed in the past year, and could potentially become a catalyst for widespread censorship of information relating to racism, sexism, sexual and gender identities, and reproductive health. Granted, none of these things are guaranteed; it is simply the future that passing a bill like KOSA could lay the groundwork for.
Protecting Marginalized Communities
Needless to say, internet bills like the ones named above passing into effect would disproportionately affect LGBTQA+ youth and kids in abusive home situations. KOSA states that it “ gives parents new controls to help support their children and spot harmful behaviors…” and “ensures that parents and policymakers can assess whether social media platforms are taking meaningful steps to address risks to kids”. It’s important to note that these bills may not come from a place of malicious intent - many people voting on these bills in the senate are on the older side, and likely have no idea the butterfly effect that they could have on vulnerable young people online. That being said, some senators are more than aware - Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, who’s a co-sponsor of the bill, went on record saying that “protecting minor children from the transgender [sic] in this culture and that influence” should be a top priority, and that she believes children are being “indoctrinated” by the things they see on social media (Family Policy Alliance).
Not everyone may have the purest intentions when it comes to this issue, but it does not necessarily mean that KOSA has no redeeming qualities; if politicians took the section curbing targeted advertising aimed at minors and turned that into its own bill, it would be several steps in the right direction! As things stand, however, the bill is set up to do more harm than good.
Conclusion
The internet has long been a haven for youths and adults alike - a place where people can be themselves, connect with long distance friends, and engage with communities of people of similar interests. Censorship bills like these could take all that away. So, remember that there are those out there who would weaponise bills like these against marginalized groups, and tell your senators to vote NO!
Sources:
You can read more about the various internet bills and why they’re bad at https://www.transformativeworks.org/kosa-and-other-bad-internet-bills/?fbclid=IwAR0xPI1B5QhpaRmTrip8t8GU3jbEdELgXOXvFG4YWL2XwDFLYNQnLFd5VFA; this is a fan-run forum with a focus on preserving spaces for fanfiction, so it is not a proper source. However, it is well written and provides a good overview of each bill and its issues.
Family Policy Alliance. “Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s Top Priority Is Social Media. Here’s Why.” YouTube, Video, 1 Sept. 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg21OdmUj1g&ab_channel=FamilyPolicyAlliance. Accessed 27 Sept. 2023.
Blumenthal, Senator Richard and Blackburn, Senator Marsha. “The Kids Online Safety Act of 2022.” https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/kids_online_safety_act_-_one_pager.pdf. Accessed 27 Sept. 2023.
Iovine, Anna. “Kids Online Safety Act Would Target Trans Content, Senator Confirms.” Mashable, 4 Sept. 2023, https://mashable.com/article/kids-online-safety-act-would-target-trans-content-says-marsha-blackburn. Accessed 27 Sept. 2023.
You can read the full text of KOSA here: https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/services/files/D89FC49B-0714-4124-B8B1-4F35A85F5E02
You can tell your senators to vote “NO” here: https://www.stopkosa.com/
