this post was submitted on 03 Feb 2024
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3 Huge Tech Companies Endorse Bill That Could Wipe Abortion Info From the Internet.::The misleadingly-named Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) just got a boost from Silicon Valley.

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[–] [email protected] 185 points 9 months ago (6 children)

Fact: Any time a bill has a name about protecting children, it's never actually about protecting children.

Also, what do the big tech companies have to gain by supporting this bill? They're typically opposed to anything that can open them up to litigation.

[–] foggy 40 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I think big tech companies are trying to figure out which side of politics they need to kiss ass on so that they can continue unfettered growth.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Don't fool yourself, they own both sides. The only difference is that each special interest will pick a side to publicly donate to, and then funnel dark money to the other - gotta cover those bases.

Big Tech is pro-regulation at this point, at least the regulations that make the cost of entry for new companies prohibitively expensive.

[–] fidodo 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

No, they don't kiss up to parties, the parties kiss up to them. They want this so they can force users to hand over PII and let them track them to access content.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Companies handle/hand over PII, not users.

I never said anything about kissing up, I said donations/bribes.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 9 months ago

I think the tech companies believe they'll get good PR for a bill that purports to be about child safety. In actuality, the bill will allow them to censor anything they want on their platforms while sidestepping criticism about curtailing free speech because they can say "we're just trying not to get sued; if you have a problem, take it up with Washington"

[–] fidodo 21 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Seems like what they would gain is forcing users to have over PII and tracking them to access a non blocked content. It's good for their ability to make money off advertising and forcing users into closed eco systems they control, and killing competition that doesn't require registration.

[–] Alexstarfire 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Same with freedom/patriotism. Or really anything that's meant to ekove a specific type of emotion.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I also narrow my eyes whenever I see the word "family" now.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Absolutely 💯💯💯. It's almost always followed by some fearful take about protecting ourselves from some outsider who isn't "like us" and maybe about fucking over poor people for bonus points

[–] cmbabul 5 points 9 months ago
[–] afraid_of_zombies 4 points 9 months ago

Shields them from liability, kisses the ring of the powers that be, and makes them look like they are doing something good.

[–] [email protected] 155 points 9 months ago (3 children)
  1. Snap
  2. X
  3. Microsoft

Saved you a click

[–] [email protected] 24 points 9 months ago

Ah yes, some of the shittiest tech companies in the world teaming up with the dumbest morons in existence to enforce dumb politics and censor free information, trying to turn the open internet into a shit hole of censorship like China. Amazing!

[–] cashews_best_nut 16 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Thanks. Did you know your username is one of Odin's ravens?

[–] [email protected] 26 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Thanks. Did you know your username is one of a tree's "nuts"?

[–] [email protected] 18 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Thanks, did you know your username is a wheat product that contains gluten?

[–] Koppensneller 15 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Thanks, did you know your username is an artist who scored the hit single "Too Little, Too Late" in 2006?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Thanks, did you know your username is a Dutch phrase meaning "headhunter"?

It could also be Norwegian, meaning "cup snails."

[–] BigBrainBrett2517 5 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Thanks. Did you know your username is an exclamation of surprise in New Zealand when someone named Bradley appears unexpectedly?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Thanks. Did you know your username is the 2517th guy named Brett with megalencephaly?

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[–] JTskulk 9 points 9 months ago

Fucking canonical, snap just keeps getting worse and worse.

[–] TheGrandNagus 94 points 9 months ago (1 children)
  • Microsoft loves this bill

  • X/Twitter loves this bill

  • Snap Inc/Snapchat loves this bill

[–] oDDmON 46 points 9 months ago

Parasites and control freaks endorse “child safety “ bill, what could possibly go wrong?

[–] [email protected] 75 points 9 months ago

The biggest take away from all this is

A handful of tech companies manage and control the majority of public information.

A handful of politicians who are in bed with the same corporations and they are all willing to control that information for their own personal religious beliefs

[–] [email protected] 59 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Serious question: If this bill passes, how will the US Internet be meaningfully different than China's Internet, if it's used to censor stuff the government doesn't like?

[–] RubberElectrons 23 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Well... The internet was originally built on decentralized communications. We may have to transition more heavily to the darkweb, any attempts to block that would be an attack on freedom of speech.

Humanity seems to progress/regress in waves. We'll try to ride this out, and some of us will use ingenuity to make a taller ladder vs the govt's taller walls. They can never keep pace.

[–] asdfasdfasdf 8 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Why not Lemmy / Mastodon / etc.? IDK if we need "dark web". We just need to decentralize.

[–] RubberElectrons 9 points 9 months ago

I say dark web only in protection in transit of important/forbidden info.

I realize that was confusing, but yeah, any decentralized system should be applicable, just needs to add protecting the data while traveling, and who is looking at it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

Isps could take them down. Maybe requiring each site to state what it's using it for and forcing requirements down. If China can do it, U.S could follow too.

[–] jpreston2005 52 points 9 months ago (2 children)

SnapChat, Microsoft, and twitter.

Those are the three.

[–] captainlezbian 16 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I’d say to boycott them but you already probably have if you’re here

[–] meliaesc 6 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Snapchat and X, definitely. But microsoft is unavoidable for work.

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[–] afraid_of_zombies 5 points 9 months ago

Glad I only use 1 of those and even than just for my boring job.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 9 months ago (1 children)

In the fall, Jezebel reported how a bipartisan bill ostensibly meant to protect children from harmful content online could be weaponized by Republican politicians to censor everything from LGBTQ+ content to sex ed info to abortion resources—and for all internet users, not just children.

This is so dystopian

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

Always assume the worst case scenario. This bill is another version of the "Patriot Act" that extends to whatever your dumbass state wants it to ban.

[–] Devccoon 31 points 9 months ago (2 children)

For whatever reason, when I hear KOSA, it conjures up SOPA and PIPA. Feels like it's been so long since any of these came up but I guess existential-level threats to internet content and privacy never fully die~

[–] [email protected] 17 points 9 months ago

It's because this bill is the evolution of those bills.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

they will keep trying until the most egregious censorship passes

the system is broken, rebel or your internet is done for.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Kids Online Safety Shouldn’t Require Massive Online Censorship and Surveillance: 2023 Year in Review

EFF link - they’re fighting this for us

Link to check out the merch they have for donors. Cherish my shirt from them.

[–] raynethackery 3 points 9 months ago

As an aside, they always say to edit your message to your representatives. What do you say?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Oo very nice. I might have to donate money for that shirt.

[–] JoeKrogan 20 points 9 months ago

Have these people nothing better to do.

[–] werefreeatlast 15 points 9 months ago

I can't wait for porn to be blurred out crotches and boobs with little stars instead of nipples. Darn!

It was perfect! In case you are reading this in the future next couple of years, back in 2024, you just typed a few words on the search engine and you too could witness excellent quality videos of various men and women having fun with their body parts in ways that you didn't even think were possible, and are too weak to do if you had anyone to do them with. We are talking penises, mouths, vaginas, balls and boobs and their various combinations.

[–] CaptainProton 14 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Nobody defended communities discussing illegal things, then nobody defended communities discussing questionable legal things, then nobody defended disfavored things like firearms channels/YouTubers, now it's your turn.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Humanity doesn't learn and this is how it works at all times, so I'm confused whether your comment is as useful as it can be or completely useless.

[–] CaptainProton 5 points 9 months ago

It's futile I'm afraid

[–] Alexstarfire 4 points 9 months ago

I don't have enough money to play the game.

[–] Cyberflunk 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)
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[–] UltraMagnus0001 5 points 9 months ago

Probably something to do with healthcare costs and preventing people from taking FMLA for babies

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