NEW LETTER: LGBTQ, reproductive, civil rights groups tell Congress to take their concerns about KOSA seriously, trans youth and abortion seekers are at risk

Dear Members of Congress,

We write to you as LGBTQ, reproductive justice, and civil rights organizations urging you to take the concerns of marginalized communities seriously and not pass the Kids Online Safety Act as it is currently drafted. Our coalition has repeatedly expressed our issues with this bill, based on the real threat it poses to communities already under threat across the country, particularly trans youth and abortion seekers. The fact that these concerns are not being taken seriously shows that Congress has learned nothing from the aftermath of SESTA/FOSTA. KOSA has the same problem as SESTA/FOSTA: social media companies will be incentivized to overreact and over-police politically targeted communities. We unfortunately expect the same result if KOSA passes, vital information and communities will disappear from the internet. 

We are looking down the barrel of a very contentious election with a number of issues that impact the health and safety of abortion seekers and those in the LGBTQ community in the political spotlight. As it stands, KOSA would still allow the FTC to pressure companies into removing speech an administration does not agree with. By giving the FTC unprecedented control over content in this way, KOSA would make kids, who deserve access to inclusive, lifesaving resources, less safe, not more safe. 

There have been a number of improvements proposed that will help alleviate our concerns with the bill, including Senator Wyden’s amendment*. It is frankly ridiculous that this vote is being brought to the floor without considering these improvements and addressing the well-documented and good-faith opposition to the bill. We ask that the bill not be voted on until the concerns that have been raised are addressed. We share the concerns of the harmful effects of Big Tech on young people, but betraying already censored marginalized people is not how we address the very real problems caused by Big Tech. We refuse to be silent when the communities we represent are at risk. 

Signed,

18 Million Rising

Abortion Access Front

Arkansas Black Gay Men’s Forum

Assembly Four

Black and Pink National

Caribbean Law Project*

COLAGE

Equality Texas*

Erotic Service Provider Legal Education and Research Project (ESPLERP)

Faith Choice Ohio

Fight for the Future

FORGE, Inc.

Freedom Network USA

Freedom Oklahoma

Hugh Lane Wellness Foundation

Indivisible Plus Washington

Indivisible Whidbey Island

Kairos Fellowship

Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund

Nebraska Abortion Resources

North Kitsap Indivisible

Old Pros

Olympia Indivisible

Organization for Transformative Works

Secular Student Alliance

SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change

Snohomish County Indivisible

Solutions NOT Punishment Collaborative

Sylvia Rivera Law Project

The Knights and Orchids Society

The Support Ho(s)e Collective

The Woodhull Freedom Foundation

Transathlete

TransOhio

Whidbey Indivisible

*Senator Wyden has proposed adding the following to Sec. 102(b) [Limitations to the Duty of Care]:

3. The mere display or recommendation of content to a minor as a result of a covered entity’s use of a personalized recommendation system that is not predominantly designed to encourage or increase the frequency of use or time spent on the covered platform by minors over other qualities of the recommendation system.

4. any minor from using privacy-enhancing technologies or designs.

*Edited to include:

Caribbean Law Project, signed 5/25/2024

Equality Texas, signed 05/24/2024