When I was a kid, I believed that technology would help people. Boy was that not the case.
Big Tech has a obsession with trying to spy on us, and giving nothing back in return,
while smaller platforms go unoticed in the shadows.
Now, they want to make things worse for us in the name of 'protecting children'.
They will make ID checks mandatory (sadly not man-dat-a-ry). Online ID checks are protocols that websites and applications use to verify your age and identity online – and governments LOVE them because they help them censor information online that they don’t like. Online ID checks are being promoted as convenient and as tools to keep kids safe, and with lawmakers pushing them so hard, companies are pre-complying and buying into the wave of age-gating the internet. However, online ID checks actually endanger young people, communities organizing for political change, access to ab*rtion information online, and anyone who is posting information that the government would like to censor. This will also make the internet less safe and less usable (and anonymous) for everyone!
Blocked content (sex education, LGBTQ+ information, or ab*rtion information) will be harder (if not impossible) to share with your audiences.
Clicking on a news article, logging onto social media, or accessing your favorite sites will be interrupted by ID verification tools, which will collect massive amounts of personal data and endanger vulnerable communities.
We have to stand for our rights online right now.
Stay tuned for the STOP ONLINE ID CHECKS WEEK OF ACTION happening December 1-5!
And check out these sites:
Bad Internet Bills
Take Back CTRL
L-TV is a proud supporter of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Fight for the Future