Charlie Jane Anders discusses KOSA (the Kids Online Safety Act).

If you’re in the US, https://www.stopkosa.com/ makes it easy to contact your Senators and ask them to oppose KOSA.

"A new bill called the Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, is sailing towards passage in the Senate with bipartisa>n support. Among other things, this bill would give the attorney general of every state, including red states, the right to sue Internet platforms if they allow any content that is deemed harmful to minors. This clause is so vaguely defined that attorneys general can absolutely claim that queer content violates it — and they don’t even need to win these lawsuits in order to prevail. They might not even need to file a lawsuit, in fact. The mere threat of an expensive, grueling legal battle will be enough to make almost every Internet platform begin to scrub anything related to queer people.

The right wing Heritage Foundation has already stated publicly that the GOP will use this provision to remove any discussions of trans or queer lives from the Internet. They’re salivating over the prospect.

And yep, I did say this bill has bipartisan support. Many Democrats have already signed on as co-sponsors. And President Joe Biden has urged lawmakers to pass this bill in the strongest possible terms."

  • anon232@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    The internet is about to move to the rest of the world if this passes, no one will host a web server in the US after this.

    • Sleazy_Albanese [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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      1 year ago

      which, considering that the U.S considers accessing a server based in the U.S grounds to extradite a person from the otherside of the world and try them for a capital crime might not be such a bad thing.

    • gsa4555@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      The problem is where? The EU is trying to apply similar censorship via the DSA, Russia we all know is LGBTphobic and not truly for free speech, Canada is a joke, and China is lol. Not even sure if Japan is viable.

        • WldFyre@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Didn’t a lesbian kiss get edited out of Star Wars Rise of Skywalker for the Chinese release? Just as one example

              • Awoo [she/her]@hexbear.net
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                1 year ago

                I’m trans. No it isn’t.

                Claiming that China is actively repressing this while literally employing and front-facing transgender people is absurd. Where are the famous transgender TV personalities employed by the BBC? Britain’s state owned media.

                China is visibly trying to improve things for trans people compared to the country I’m currently in (the UK) and your absurdness about it is obviously built on racism because you don’t behave this way about white countries. You only behave this way about non-white countries. Where is your equal criticism? Where is this behaviour when it’s all the white countries that behave this way? You’re american right? Where is it for YOUR country which is currently illegalising trans people, undergoing state sanctioned murder against trans people and having an internal refugee crisis because of it. Where the fuck are the federal protections to prevent this genocide being perpetrated by red states? Non existent. Because democrat support for trans people is performative.

                So excuse me but fuck off about criticising China on trans people. You’re a shit.

                • CmdrShepard@lemmy.one
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                  1 year ago

                  Lol

                  China isn’t censoring their internet because you’re a trans person who lives in the UK, BBC doesn’t have trans personalities, and certain US politicians are attacking trans rights? Wow, what an argument.

                  Also I’m racist for pointing out authoritarianism from an authoritarian government?

                  You’re doing a terrible job with your concern trolling. Put in some effort at least.

                  • Awoo [she/her]@hexbear.net
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                    1 year ago

                    censoring

                    The point isn’t about censorship which for the record here was performed by Disney for the sake of more profit. Not by the state.

                    their internet

                    Nothing about this comment string was about the internet. This is a non-sequitur.

                    you’re a trans person who lives in the UK, BBC doesn’t have trans personalities, and certain US politicians are attacking trans rights? Wow, what an argument.

                    The point here is that it is demonstrably obvious to trans people living in the US and UK that China is better to us than the US and the UK, one of which is currently performing a genocide against us and the other of which is transphobic on a near daily basis and is expected by the community here to follow in the US’ footsteps if it gets the chance.

                    Also I’m racist for pointing out authoritarianism from an authoritarian government?

                    You didn’t say a damn thing about that. You dismissed an argument about China being better about trans people than multiple major western governments. I gave concrete examples of why that is, and only now are you bringing out “muh authoritarianism”, which frankly I don’t give a shit about compared to the ongoing real genocide of trans people the US is doing.

                    It is painful talking to you morons when you can’t even remember what you fucking said, or be bothered to go back and check it. But yes I am calling you a racist because you clearly have different standards for white countries than you do for non-white ones.

          • GaveUp [she/her]@hexbear.net
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            1 year ago

            Why are you automatically blaming China for that? How do you know that decision wasn’t made by the film directors/company? Unfortunately, propaganda runs deep and people easily believe whatever they want to believe

            “Authorities in Dubai and in Singapore’s media regulatory board, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), threatened Disney and Lucasfilm to either cut a brief lesbian kiss from the end of Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker or else lose their film’s PG-13 rating … While Chinese censors allowed the kiss to stay, an R rating in Singapore would’ve made the film inaccessible to its younger fans, hurting its financial success abroad.”

            It was the first Google search result

            Disney and Lucasfilm are the ones to blame for chasing profit

        • madnerds@midwest.social
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          1 year ago

          Seems pretty clear from context, China is an autocratic state well known to engage in censorship when it fits the party’s desires.

            • madnerds@midwest.social
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              1 year ago

              Your whataboutism isn’t really useful here, I’m just responding to the question about China. The point of his response was that there isn’t really any place left to go. And even if your response was relevant it would be laughable, the censorship that the Chinese government perpetrates puts most other countries to shame.

            • andruid@lemmy.ml
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              1 year ago

              Which is his point,right? Like where else would you go to host if all governments engage in this BS

              • GaveUp [she/her]@hexbear.net
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                1 year ago

                The arguments presented are so terrible and devoid of any meaninful substance

                The first one was “China lol”

                Then the one I replied to in support of “China lol” said “autocratic state” which is absolutely false unless all of your knowledge about China’s governance system comes from reading CNN headlines and skimming Reuters articles written by a dude with a bachelor’s in journalism that doesn’t speak Chinese

                They also said “well known to” which implies it’s a special case when every state exerts overwhelming control and censorship over the media that occurs within their country

                • andruid@lemmy.ml
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                  1 year ago

                  Isn’t the CCP given explicit power and privilege in the Chinese government and isn’t the CCP’s officially headed by a permanent leader as it’s “core”? I’ve been trying read about the political structure and it’s hard to not argue that it seems very autocratic.

                  • robinn2 [he/him]@hexbear.net
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                    1 year ago

                    Isn’t the CCP given explicit power and privilege in the Chinese government

                    The CPC (not CCP) is the guiding force of the government, and adapts to the will of the people through the mass line/being comprised of 10% of eligible persons. The highest level of the CPC (after the various levels of party committees/congresses) is the SC of the Politburo of the Central Committee, which is comprised of members elected through all levels and with terms of five years, and the highest individual position is the General Secretary (also terms of five years), elected by the Central Committee. Provided the persons in these positions are fit to serve, there are no definite term limits (one can be elected for a term of five years indefinitely until they are too old to serve (age limit), wish not to in which case a subordinate would the replace them, or are voted out by the CC) although I fail to see how a term limit can be justified when it is merely an undemocratic method of preventing the election of someone regardless of their success/the will of the population.

              • Awoo [she/her]@hexbear.net
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                1 year ago

                What don’t you understand about it? How has it ever affected you? Can you name a single time it has?

                China does not care unless you live within its borders, and even there it only really cares when it is someone of influence, such as the rich capital owners or the celebrities.

                • madnerds@midwest.social
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                  1 year ago

                  I just didn’t understand the way your question was worded because it was garbled. I don’t have any reason to host a data server and I don’t live in China, so you got me, I’ve never been personally impacted by Chinese government censorship and repression. Obviously that means it doesn’t exist, QED.

                  But oh, as long as I make sure not to upset anyone rich or in power I would be fine, don’t worry. Do you ever read what you type?

                  • duderium [he/him]@hexbear.net
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                    I just didn’t understand the way your question was worded because it was garbled. I don’t have any reason to host a data server and I don’t live in China, so you got me, I’ve never been personally impacted by Chinese government censorship and repression. Obviously that means it doesn’t exist, QED.

                    “The Chinese government has never done anything that has negatively impacted me or anyone I know, I have never known a Chinese person I disliked, yet I passionately despise China. I am extremely different from Republicans who have never set foot inside an American city yet are terrified of doing so. It’s you tankies who are propagandized, not me!!!”

      • Daft_ish@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I’m sure tech company’s could just stick their servers in the Virgin Islands or some other fucking tax haven.

      • dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        In what way is Canada a joke? Like, I’m not saying it isn’t, but our online freedom is pretty good. We don’t actually have a state sponsored censorship campaign, VPNs are legal, TOR is legal, all we legislate is that you aren’t inciting violence or calling for the extermination of a protected group of people or doing shady dark web shit. Pretty much everything else is good to go.

        • Daft_ish@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          In the way that there are MAGAs up north. Like, come on bois, there’s no need for that shit.

      • kennismigrant@feddit.nl
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        1 year ago

        There’s some wisdom in the old soviet anecdote

        There’s freedom of speech in the USSR: In the USA, you can stand in front of the White House in Washington, DC, and yell, “Down with Ronald Reagan,” and you will not be punished. Equally, you can also stand in Red Square in Moscow and yell, “Down with Ronald Reagan,” and you will not be punished.

        The Internet is still mostly connected, the law enforcement is not as much. Many businesses exist only because of this. You are free to host (produce, store, distribute) your content where it is legal and access it from where it is not. Access to foreign resources may eventually be outlawed or the access itself restricted. This is already the case in EU, Russia, China, etc. - but for now Internet is mostly connected.