from the think-of-the-children dept
Twenty years in the past, John Jonik launched top-of-the-line political cartoons ever relating to makes an attempt to censor and management the web. In it, a personality dressed up as Uncle Sam is putting a present field labeled “Management of Web Speech” on a counter. Behind it, a person wearing a swimsuit, labeled “Company Media” is asking Uncle Sam “How would you want this wrapped?”
Behind him are two rolls of wrapping paper. One is labeled “Anti-terrorism” and the opposite is “Shield youngsters.”
It’s troublesome to consider a cartoon that has been extra correct for thus a few years, although, I’d think about if drawn immediately it would add a 3rd one for “human trafficking.”
Both approach, it appears like the federal government is wrapping its plans to manage and censor web speech with the “shield youngsters” wrapping once more. On Tuesday, December 2nd, the Home Vitality and Commerce’s subcommittee on “defending youngsters and teenagers on-line” can be holding a listening to on a protracted record of proposed legal guidelines, all of which use the “however consider the kids” ethical panic to counsel problematic concepts.
It’s not price going via all of them, a lot of which haven’t any probability of going anyplace. The headliner is, not surprisingly, a brand new model of KOSA. Whereas this model is improved from the Home model by eradicating the “responsibility of care” provision (which is a blatant censorship instrument), it nonetheless has supporters of the unique KOSA screaming about how the invoice has been neutered.
However the invoice remains to be horrible and harmful. It, like many of those payments, is making an attempt to dump accountability for elevating, educating, and defending youngsters from these truly accountable: mother and father and academics. These are all actually simply cynical makes an attempt by lawmakers to shake down tech corporations for marketing campaign contributions to fill their marketing campaign coffers. None of that is truly about defending the kids, as a result of the precise options mentioned by precise consultants by no means appear to indicate up in these hearings.
Both approach, gird your self, as a result of these hearings all the time go the identical approach: elected officers will parade out a protracted record of horrible issues which they’ll blame on the web.
They are going to make zero effort to notice that related or precisely equal issues occurred pre-internet. They are going to make zero effort to contemplate whether or not mother and father or academics may need some culpability in not serving to youngsters take care of numerous challenges. And definitely they’ll actively keep away from mentioning that issues like improved training and entry to psychological well being care (issues that this group of politicians have been actively working in opposition to for essentially the most half) may assist forestall these tragedies.
As an alternative, they’ll trot out a parade of horribles, insist it’s all of the web’s fault, and promise that they’ll get powerful with laws, even when that laws will truly make issues worse and/or violate the Structure.
We now have our ethical panic, and Congress will proceed to feed it at any value.
Filed Underneath: censorship, home vitality & commerce committee, web, kosa, shield the kids, consider the kids
