LGBTQ Rights
All children deserve to be safe and connected online. However, the legislation currently being considered by Congress includes major consequences for LGBTQ+ youth which could jeopardize their mental health, safety, and right to access important information. The bills could even prevent kids from accessing life-saving resources like virtual mental health care and suicide prevention websites.
Serious, Negative Consequences for LGBTQ+ Youth
Taken together, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), STOP CSAM Act, Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act (EARN IT Act) would upend the way all youth access information online and give politicians more power to determine the content they see.
KOSA Would Subject LGBTQ+ Youth To Political Persecution, Censorship, And Lose Access To Key Health Care And Mental Health Services
State attorneys general - partisan politicians - would have the power to enforce their political agendas and sue internet service providers if they believe subjective content moderation regulations are violated.
Internet service providers and platforms may be forced or strongly encouraged to remove and censor any content - including LGBTQ-related content - that may affect their liability.
Online platforms would be forced to eliminate or undermine end-to-end encryption that LGBTQ+ youth often depend on to privately join support networks, find health care, and access other information essential to their physical and mental health like virtual mental health care and suicide prevention websites.
Anti-Trans Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) cited the KOSA Act as “Protecting Minor Children From The Transgender [Sic] In This Culture And That Influence." Sen. Blackburn is a sponsor of KOSA.
LGBTQ+ And Human Rights Groups Oppose These Bills
132 LGBTQ+ and human rights groups officially oppose the EARN IT Act.
The ACLU and 60 other organizations, including LGBTQ+ groups, oppose the STOP CSAM Act, and dozens of similar organizations oppose KOSA.
More than 520 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in legislatures across the country so far this year from the same politicians who want to decide what content LGBTQ+ youth can access online, many sponsored by the same sponsors of these bills.
LGBTQ+ Advocates Agree the Internet Is Critical for LGBTQ+ Youth
“For LGBTQ youth in particular, the Internet can be a refuge — a safe place to feel less alone. For queer youth to feel normal, they need to see, read and hear the voices of others who look like them and use the same identifying labels.” - Ambry Thomas, LGBTQ+ advocate
“It comes down to deciding that filtering out words like lesbian and gay are important to do because that helps block sexual content. It may help block some searches for some kinds of pornography, but it's also going to block a lot of people just talking about themselves, their communities and living their everyday lives." - Emma Llansó, director of the Free Expression Project at Center for Democracy and Technology