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The fight for freedom of expression and freedom of the press continues. For the past three years, I’ve reported on the rise in censorship in books in the United States. Earlier this year, I wrote a piece about HR 7661 and how to stop it from getting past committee and onto the House floor for an official vote. At time of writing, HR 7661 has not made it to an official vote
However, where one legislative attempt strikes out, another one is waiting in the dugout for its turn at bat. And this one is called KOSA
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) has passed the House of Representatives this past week and is on the way to the Senate. It will require everyone on the internet to provide their government IDs to use social media sites, which poses a number of issues for the industry. Not just those under 18 — everyone. It’s the Comics Code Authority’s return under the guise of a kids online safety bill. Yes, it is that serious
Before I continue, I do want to say that whenever there’s an increase in the way that the government surveils us, there is a subsection of people who will say that they have nothing to hide, so it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. However, that was for a different administration at a different time. This legislation is not happening in a vacuum. It comes off the heels of an executive order from last September outlining who is considered to be associated with Antifa and can be labeled as a domestic terrorist.
As a reminder, expressing the following beliefs is viewed as being a part of Antifa (and by extension a domestic terrorist):
- Anti-Capitalism (pointing out the issues with wealth disparity, wanting a living wage for all, being a socialist/Marxist/Leninist/etc., or taxing the rich)
- Anti-Christianity (not believing in Christ the way that the far right believes in God, not believing in a God at all, any liberal interpretations of Christianity like Episcopalianism, or making critiques about Christianity)
- Support for the overthrow of the United States Government(believing that the United States shouldn’t invade countries for no reason, like how we did with Iran)
- Extremism on:
- Migration (believing that immigrants should be treated kindly and have access to becoming American citizens, denouncing ICE’s violence toward protestors, advocating for the closure of detention centers for inhumane conditions)
- Race(believing that America has a history of racism that should be taught in school, believing that people of color deserve the same opportunities as white people)
- Gender(believing that trans people are people and should be allowed to transition, that women are allowed to have access to birth control and abortion)
- Hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality(calling out bigots for believing in bigoted things and advocating for boycotts of their business for expressing said beliefs)
This is different than the day when you’d get a knock on the door from the feds for expressing a desire to harm elected officials. With KOSA, they can directly link your social media posts and internet history to your government name and build a case against you. With the recent harsh sentencing of multiple Dallas protestors for disseminating/owning “antifa” literature. I’m talking about 30-50-year sentences for owning zines containing objectionable literature
This isn’t just for individuals; it also means companies that hire people (like, say, publishing houses) can be called a Domestic Terrorist Organization if they don’t fall in line. DC Comics publishing Absolute Batman Annual #1 and nottaking it off shelves? That’s pushing Antifa rhetoric because Batman beats up white supremacists. Want to sell a zine on at-home abortions like Abortion Pill Zine: A Community Guide to Misoprostol and Mifepristone? Nope. That’s gender extremism and anti-Christian. Want to publish a sex education guide for teens like Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human? Nope, that’s now considered pornography.
I could go on, but you get the point. The risk to the industry is immense and would grind publishing to a halt across the board. It would also out a number of people who have one reason or another to use pen names (like yours truly)
How do we combat this? The name of the enemy changes, but the strategy remains the same. We have to be loud, and we can’t let up. I feel like a broken record at this point, but you have to get in touch with your representatives. You have to repost and talk about this bill. 5 Calls will help you identify your representatives and offers a script to use when calling. You can also use the Resistbot app to fax, mail, or email your representatives
