WASHINGTON, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union, along with more than 300 high school students who are a part of ACLU’s annual National Advocacy Institute, are headed to the Hill to urge Congress to vote no on the online censorship bill known as the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). This push comes after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced his intent to bring KOSA to the floor, with an initial vote planned for later this week.
If passed, KOSA would violate the First Amendment by encouraging platforms to censor protected speech in order to ensure compliance with the bill’s provisions, and incentivize the removal of anonymous browsing on wide swaths of the internet. As the ACLU and its partners have repeatedly explained, this bill would not keep kids safe, but instead threatens young people’s privacy, limits minors’ access to vital resources, and silences important online conversations for all ages.
“At its core, KOSA is an internet censorship bill that would harm the very communities it claims to protect,” said Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel at the ACLU. “The First Amendment guarantees everyone, including children, the right to access information free from censorship. We urge lawmakers to protect young people by listening to their concerns and voting no on the bill that could be used to silence them.”
On Thursday, more than 300 high school students will meet with congressional officials to advocate for their First Amendment rights — on and offline. The students will also urge lawmakers to vote no on KOSA as it would give the government the power to decide what content is dangerous to young people, enabling censorship and endangering their access to important resources, like gender identity support, mental health materials, and reproductive healthcare.
This advocacy effort will mark the conclusion of the ACLU’s National Advocacy Institute, a week-long learning experience offering the next generation of social justice advocates first-hand expertise from lawyers, lobbyists, community activists and other experts dedicated to defending constitutional rights. Originally published at https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-and-students-from-across-the-country-urge-congress-to-vote-no-on-kids-online-safety-act
