Democrats are sneaking online censorship of “hate speech” into the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) under the guise of “protecting kids” – and many Republicans on capitol hill appear to be on board.
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) was prompted by the Surgeon General’s report on “Social Media and Youth Mental Health,” which complained of “hate-based content” and how “transgender youth are disproportionately impacted by online harassment and abuse.”
In turn, the Surgeon General’s report was prompted by left censorship wing activist and Facebook “whistleblower” Frances Haugen, who complained that the tech giant didn’t censor enough conservative speech. The NAACP, President Biden, Microsoft, and dozens of left-wing senators, including Elizabeth Warren, Brian Schatz, and Chuck Schumer, all support it.
Transgender Day of Visibility (Manuel Augusto Moreno, Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty)
The bill’s conservative supporters are reacting to the severe problem of social media addiction and its relationship to teen depression and anxiety — very real problems. However, KOSA goes far beyond addressing this problem by requiring social media companies, online video games, and even websites like 4chan to take “reasonable measures” to prevent “online bullying and harassment.” of minors.
Vague laws about “harassment” have been the favored tool by Big Tech and Democrats to censor conservative speech. The bill empowers State Attorneys General to enforce these rules. Blue State AGs such as Letitia James have already cited “harassment” and “cyberbullying” to threaten social media platforms for not censoring speech. James filed an amicus brief in Missouri v. Biden, which defended the Biden Administration’s collusion with the tech companies to “misinformation” because this prevented them from “protecting children from online harassment.”
New York State Attorney General Letitia James adjusts her glasses as she announces that the state is suing the National Rifle Association during a press conference, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Before Elon Musk acquired Twitter, the platform suspended Chaya Raichik’s Libs Of TikTok account twice for ” harassment” —for merely reporting on drag queen shows aimed at children.. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) accused Raichik of causing “real life harassment” simply for posting videos of hospital administrators stating their gender transition policies.
Former Trump administration lawyer James Lawrence, who has represented Raichik and many blacklisted creators against Big Tech, such as Alex Berenson and the Babylon Bee, has criticized the law for its definition of harassment and the National Academy of Sciences to conduct further policy recommendations.
Lawrence pointed out that the NAS already issued a report on “Social Media and Adolescent Health.” Its editor, Boston University Public Health Professor Sandro Galea, previously called hate speech, which he defined to include opposition to illegal immigration and the radical transgender agenda, a “public health issue.”
This is just the tip of the Iceberg with the National Academies. As Breitbart noted when exposing other “bipartisan” social media legislation that funded the National Academy, the NGO is “preoccupied with the problem of ‘misinformation.'” Social Media and Adolescent Health frequently discuss “misinformation” as a threat to public health.
More recently, the National Academies convened a working group on “Evolving Technological, Legal and Social Solutions to Counter Disinformation in Social Media” led by Joan Donovan, the former head of the Technology and Social Change Project at Harvard and editor of the Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review. Breitbart has reported that Donovan is one of the most extreme leaders in the censorship industrial complex.
- Donovan led the charge to call Hunter Biden’s laptop misinformation. Donovan urged the media to ignore the story even after it was proven true, calling it a “manufactured scandal.
- Before the creation of the Orwellian “Disinformation Governance Board,” Donovan called for creating a “Truth Commission” to hold social media responsible for January 6, which the NY Times approvingly described as a “Reality Czar.”
- The Chinese Communist Party has praised Donovan’s work pressuring Big Tech to censor coronavirus “disinformation.”
On April 11, the National Association of Sciences’ disinformation committee hosted a meeting with a presentation by Nandini Jammi, who led Sleeping Giants and now CheckMyAds, the two most prominent groups pushing to demonetize Breitbart News and other conservative groups. Her presentation was on “Regulatory and Other Incentives and Disincentives for Behavior Change,” and described Brietbart as a “disinformation network.” She added, “We started out demonetizing Breitbart” and moved on to “insurrectionist content.”
The Bill is sponsored by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Dick Blumenthal (D-CT) in the Senate and Kathy Castor (D-FL) and Representatives Gus Biliarakis (R-FL), Erin Houchin (R-IN) and Kim Schrier (D-WA) in the House.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
