After heated debate, the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate has passed a sweeping online censorship bill that imperils the future of free speech on the internet.
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) cleared the U.S. Senate on July 30, 2024, over the vocal opposition of conservative Senators Mike Lee (R, UT) and Rand Paul (R, KY). The bill faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled U.S. House, where it is sure to face renewed scrutiny over its threat to Americans’ First Amendment rights.
The bill passed the Senate by a disturbing 91-3 margin, with Lee, Paul and Senator Ron Wyden (D, OR) voting against it. Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, a free speech advocate who is currently the Republican vice presidential nominee, was unable to attend the vote.
If enacted, KOSA would incentivize tech companies to escalate their censorship of dissenting views, perverting the internet to fit the sensibilities of Washington censors.
KOSA Uses Subjective Language that Coerce Platforms to Censor More
KOSA amends existing law to make tech companies liable if the content shared on their platforms causes children “psychological distress” or “anxiety.” It also penalizes platforms that permit “online bullying” of minors. These undefined, nebulous terms are so subjective that tech platforms only hope of complying may be to aggressively amp up their already extensive censorship operations.
KOSA Creates a Government Censorship Board
KOSA creates a government censorship board, named the Kids Online Safety Council, to provide “recommendations” for social media companies. Under the bill’s text, the Safety Council’s membership must include “representatives of covered [Big Tech] platforms” and meet DEI-style quotas.
KOSA Empowers a Top Censor of the Biden-Harris Administration
KOSA instructs the surgeon general to work with the Federal Trade Commission to create studies on potential “remedies” to content that could cause psychological distress or anxiety. The current surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, is one of the Biden-Harris administration’s top censorship advocates, arguing in the case Murthy v. Missouri that he had a right to direct tech companies to censor critics of the government.
KOSA Creates New Cash Flows for the Censorship-Industrial Complex
KOSA requires tech companies to contract with third-party reporting agencies to document “systemic risks to harm to minors based on “industry best practices.” This likely means more lucrative contracts for incumbent, for-profit firms in the censorship-industrial complex like Ad Fontes Media, Moonshot and NewsGuard.
KOSA Strongarms Big Tech into Banning Internet Anonymity
KOSA imposes onerous new reporting requirements for tech platforms which can largely be avoided by requiring users to upload their ID or social security number. This information would then be mandated, by law, to be handed over to third-party auditors. Platforms more resistant to this form of censorship, like TruthSocial or Rumble, could face crippling costs to comply with this vague regulation. This could result in the annihilation of anonymous speech from the internet.
KOSA Allows Attorneys General to Use State Courts to Target Online Speech
KOSA permits state attorneys general to sue tech firms if they feel an online platform could cause minors “anxiety.” Furthermore, the law allows these attorneys general to entirely bypass the Constitution’s federal court system, and instead have the cases adjudicated by elected state judges. This means a single biased judge in Manhattan, New York or Atlanta, Georgia could end up determining the censorship policy for the entire nation.
KOSA’s Design Makes It Exceedingly Difficult for Victims of Censorship to Get Justice in Court
Since KOSA uses vague words to encourage big tech platforms to censor, it makes it exceptionally difficult for victims of censorship to challenge the potentially unconstitutional law in court. This is because by outsourcing the censorship to a third party (in this case, a tech platform), KOSA largely removes censorship victims’ ability to bring suit against the government directly. Instead, people injured by the act would have to bring their suit against Big Tech companies, which might be hesitant to admit they were following the orders of KOSA’s Online Safety Council.
KOSA Outsources Government Authority to a Private Trade Association.
KOSA increases tech platforms’ liability for content that could trigger a “mental health disorder.” Instead of defining this term, KOSA says its meaning must align with “the most current” version of the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Health Disorders. The DSM is written by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), which not a government agency, but rather a private trade association which has a long history of far-left activism. The APA lobbies against statutes regulating so-called “gender affirming care” of small children and instructs practitioners to incorporate critical-race theory into their treatment.
Paul, who recently released his own bill to limit government censorship, argued vociferously against KOSA. He warned: “this bill opens the door to nearly limitless content moderation, as people can and will argue that almost any form of content could contribute to some form of mental health disorder.”
While KOSA passed easily in the Senate, which is run by Democrat Chuck Schumer (NY), it faces more opposition in the Republican-controlled House. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R, LA) previously argued, “Big Tech has an overt bias for the Left. Their censorship is an assault on free speech.”
Image Credit: Mike Haupt, Unsplash
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