If you think Democratic Senators are going to save us from creeping authoritarianism, you haven’t been paying attention to the legislation that some of them are filing — often with the co-sponsorship of far-right Republicans.
These include: Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal’s Kids Online Safety Act; Illinois Senator Dick Durbin’s Stop CSAM Act; South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham’s EARN IT Act (co-sponsored by Blumenthal and Durbin); Kansas Senator Roger Marshall’s Cooper-Davis Act (co-sponsored by Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Dick Durbin, and Amy Klobuchar); and Virginia Senator Mark Warner’s RESTRICT Act. You can find them all described here.
I had no sooner posted an article about the deluge of Democratic-sponsored legislation when they did it again. This time it’s the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act, filed by Hawaii Democratic Senator Brian Schatz (and Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton).
Adding to the imposition of firewalls, censorship, the neutering of encryption, and extensive surveillance of user content in the preceding bills, this one requires social media platforms to verify the ages of users and bans children under 13 from using social media — completely! Children over 13 can only use social media with parental permission. To enable access to the internet, Schatz’s bill creates a digital ID program to be run by the Department of Commerce which will then be used for tracking citizens and legal residents.
It would be a disaster if even one of these bills were enacted into law. They must all be stopped.
Please write Massachusetts senators Warren and Markey urging them to reject these bills.
Dear Senator ___, I urge you to reject: Senator Blumenthal's Kids Online Safety Act; Senator Durbin's Stop CSAM Act; Senator Graham's EARN IT Act (co-sponsored by Senators Blumenthal and Durbin); Senator Marshall's Cooper-Davis Act (co-sponsored by Senators Shaheen, Durbin, and Klobuchar); Senator Warner's RESTRICT Act; and Senator Schatz's Kids on Social Media Act. Most of this legislation disingenuously promises to protect children from online predators. Even if we accept these claims at face value, they are to be accomplished by dangerous if not unconstitutional means: policing the internet, imposing firewalls and censorship, effectively snooping on users, and weakening or breaking online encryption. One bill creates a national ID program to track users and significantly limits use of the internet by children. What's next? Books? It is no surprise that Republicans are involved in attempts to censor and surveil American citizens, but it is unconscionable that so many Democrats have joined with them. Shut this legislation down now. Sincerely, [your name and town here]
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