The Kids Online Safety Act is Still A Huge Danger to Our Rights Online
www.eff.org
Congress has resurrected the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a bill that would increase surveillance and restrict access to information in the name of protecting children online. KOSA was introduced in 2022 but failed to gain traction, and today its authors, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and...

The Kids Online Safety Act is Still A Huge Danger to Our Rights Online.::Congress has resurrected the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a bill that would increase surveillance and restrict access to information in the name of protecting children online. KOSA was introduced in 2022 but failed to gain traction, and today its authors, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and…

  • TheOSINTguy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    401·
    10 months ago

    If this passes I could see Tor usage and VPN uses rising. Not to also mention something like this would be hard to enforce and would face some backlash.

        • demlet@lemmy.worldEnglish
          121·
          10 months ago

          I’m not an expert by any stretch, but couldn’t they force your ISP to just shut off your internet if you use a VPN? Maybe I don’t understand how it actually works well enough.

          • Irisos@lemmy.umainfo.liveEnglish
            21·
            10 months ago

            They could implement restrictions to block VPN traffic. But that would be repealed as fast as it came when these very congressmen would phone angrily their district on why they can work from their million dollar home anymore.

            Support: Sorry VPNs are now blocked and you cannot work remotely without them

            Congressman: Who are the idiots that voted for these laws

            Support: Well, you and your friends

            • demlet@lemmy.worldEnglish
              191·
              10 months ago

              Ha, and you don’t think Congress would write in an exception for them and their wealthy donors? I’m surprised anyone in the US believes fairness is on the table anymore.

              • PsychedSy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                6·
                10 months ago

                There’s money to be made by requiring VPN companies to meet minimum requirements that few companies can actually meet or are willing to. Backdoors for example.

      • ilmagico@lemmy.world
        English
        6·
        10 months ago

        Is that actually in the bill, or are you just saying this could be the next move?

        • demlet@lemmy.worldEnglish
          9·
          10 months ago

          More like a next move. If I remember correctly, there was language in the TikTok bill a while back that would have effectively made using a VPN illegal. Maybe I’m misremembering that. I have no doubt there are people who want to make it happen.

          • Petter1@lemm.eeEnglish
            51·
            10 months ago

            Companies relay on VPN to allow remote work while protecting their IP. But maybe it’s only about VPN to/from foreign servers.

    • MrHand@lemmy.worldEnglish
      410·
      10 months ago

      What makes you think they aren’t going to come after that too? The whole point is for elites to retain narrative control and bring the whole internet their grip so Donald Trump types never get elected again.

      • twack@lemmy.worldEnglish
        18·
        10 months ago

        Donald trump was never elected by the people in the first place, and he abused a ridiculous system created to fluff up the power of states with comparatively few people living in them. When that didn’t work the second time around, he started a misinformation campaign and flat out attempted to undermine the democracy our nation is built upon in multiple ways.

        Including him in your comment destroys your otherwise excellent point, because the Donald is exactly the type of person that would abuse this system to censor information he didn’t like.