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Executive Summary

If you’re thinking that surely your representatives or your “side” are fighting for your rights here, you’re probably wrong. KOSA, the App Store Accountability Act, the SCREEN Act, and the efforts to repeal Section 230 are bipartisan efforts to undermine our civil liberties on a massive scale. Don’t let politicians, social media, and the mainstream media fool you: Your voice can make a difference, and has already stopped KOSA and similar bills from being passed for many years now. They are counting on you giving up—don’t give in.

In December 2024 and continuing into 2025, Congress began fast-tracking nearly 20 bills in a massive effort to enact internet censorship, decimate your ability to use computers privately, and severely restrict free speech online. This coordinated legislative assault represents the most significant threat to digital freedom since the internet’s inception, and it’s happening with support from both political parties under the guise of “protecting children.”

The Current Legislative Landscape: A Perfect Storm of Censorship

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA): Censorship Disguised as Protection

KOSA has been the flagship of this censorship regime since its introduction in 2022 by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). After passing the Senate 91-3 in July 2024, the bill stalled in the House but was reintroduced in May 2025 with new amendments designed to address criticism—amendments that ultimately failed to fix the fundamental problems.

What KOSA Actually Does:

The bill establishes a “duty of care” system requiring platforms to protect minors from broadly defined “harmful content.” Despite multiple revisions, critics maintain that “the bill will lead to broad online censorship of lawful speech, including content designed to help children navigate and overcome the very same harms it identifies.”

The threat isn’t theoretical. Conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation have explicitly stated they support KOSA because it could be used to censor transgender information, revealing the true censorial intent behind child safety rhetoric. Senator Marsha Blackburn herself said in a 2023 video that the bill should prioritize “protecting minor children from the transgender [sic] in this culture,” adding “this is where children are being indoctrinated.”

The Bipartisan Assault on Internet Freedom: How KOSA, Section 230 Repeal, and 20+ Bills Threaten Your Digital Rights

Read more: YouTube’s AI Age Verification: The Global Push for Online Control - Detailed analysis of KOSA’s “duty of care” provisions and Senator Blackburn’s comments

How KOSA Enables Censorship:

  1. Vague Definitions: Terms like “harmful content” and “anxiety” are broad enough to capture virtually any online information, from LGBTQ+ resources to mental health discussions to political activism2. State Attorney General Enforcement: Despite shifting some enforcement to the FTC, state AGs can still enforce portions of the bill, allowing politically motivated prosecutions3. Age Verification Requirements: To comply, platforms would need to implement age verification systems that destroy online anonymity and create massive surveillance databases4. Chilling Effect: Platforms will over-censor to avoid liability, removing legitimate educational content that helps vulnerable youth

Youth Opposition: In March 2024, the Electronic Frontier Foundation surveyed young people who gave detailed reasons for their opposition. As one 15-year-old named Alan wrote: “I have learned so much about the world and about myself through social media, and without the diverse world I have seen, I would be a completely different, and much worse, person.”

The App Store Accountability Act: Universal ID Gates for the Internet

Introduced in both the House (H.R. 10364) and Senate (S. 5364) in November 2024, and reintroduced in the 119th Congress, this legislation would transform app stores into mandatory identification checkpoints for all users.

Key Provisions:

  • Requires app stores to determine age categories for all users using “commercially reasonable methods”- Mandates parental consent on a download-by-download basis for minors- Creates a parent account system linked to children’s accounts- Requires real-time transmission of age category data to app developers- Establishes private right of action for parents

The Texas Version: Texas passed its own App Store Accountability Act (SB 2420) with an effective date of January 1, 2026. Unlike previous age verification laws limited to adult content, this legislation applies to all apps, creating unprecedented surveillance infrastructure. The bill is currently facing multiple legal challenges arguing it violates First Amendment rights and creates insurmountable privacy risks.

Read more:

As one lawsuit notes, the bill references the Discord leak of an estimated 70,000 users’ ID photos after implementing age verification to comply with the UK’s Online Safety Act, highlighting the security vulnerabilities inherent in age verification systems.

The SCREEN Act: Nationwide Age Verification and VPN Targeting

The Shielding Children’s Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net (SCREEN) Act represents one of the most aggressive censorship proposals. Introduced in both chambers (H.R. 1623 and S. 737 in the 119th Congress), the bill would:

Primary Provisions:

  • Instate nationwide age verification requirements for websites deemed “harmful to minors”- Apply to any “covered platform” that makes obscene visual content available for profit- Require verification technology that goes beyond self-attestation- Mandate disclosure of age verification processes to the government- Create broad definitions that could capture everything from social media to educational sites

The Scope Problem: With broad definitions as to what constitutes a covered platform and content harmful to minors, the bill could be weaponized to censor anything from adult websites to fanfiction sites, popular social media platforms, and even entire telecommunication networks.

Privacy Nightmare: The SCREEN Act would force websites to contract with third-party verification companies to collect and store incredibly sensitive identifying information, like drivers’ licenses and passports, in insecure databases. Most sites would employ third-party age verification providers, which have been known to be hacked, exposing countless people’s personal data.

Read more: The SCREEN Act: How “Protecting Children” Became the Trojan Horse for Mass Digital Surveillance - Comprehensive analysis of the SCREEN Act’s true surveillance purpose

Fight for the Future’s Campaigns and Communications Director Lia Holland warned: “Censorship and mass surveillance shouldn’t be the answer to child safety. This bill is a shortsighted measure that will come back to bite whatever political party chooses to pass it, and an assault on free speech.”

Section 230 Under Siege: The Foundation of Internet Freedom

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act—the law that allows websites to host user-generated content without being liable for everything users post—faces an unprecedented coordinated assault. There have already been ten proposals to amend or repeal Section 230 in the first few months of the 119th Congress alone.

Read more: Section 230: The Backbone of the Internet and Its Controversies

Current Attacks on Section 230:

  1. Complete Repeal Proposals: Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) are preparing a bipartisan bill to sunset Section 230 entirely on January 1, 2027, unless Congress enacts a replacement framework2. The SAFE TECH Act (reintroduced 2023): Introduced by Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), this bill would:
  • Remove Section 230 protections for paid advertisements- Allow civil rights violation claims against platforms- Permit wrongful death actions- Remove immunity for cyber-stalking and harassment cases- Allow suits under the Alien Tort Claims Act3. The EARN IT Act: Would condition Section 230 immunity on platforms demonstrating “robust efforts” to combat child exploitation—vague standards that enable government control over content moderation4. The TAKE IT DOWN Act (S. 146): Advanced by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in 2025, creates a notice-and-takedown system for non-consensual intimate imagery but with definitions so broad they threaten free expression. As the EFF warns, “the ‘takedown’ provision applies to a much broader category of content—potentially any images involving intimate or sexual content at all.”

The Trump Administration’s Position: Both President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have been vocal supporters of the TAKE IT DOWN Act. Trump has shown how the bill can be abused, saying earlier this year that he would personally use the takedown provisions to censor speech critical of the president.

Read more:

Additional Censorship Bills in the Pipeline

The Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA - S. 278): Reintroduced in January 2025 by Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Ted Cruz (R-TX):

  • Prohibits children under 13 from creating social media accounts- Restricts algorithmic content serving to users under 17- Requires schools receiving federal internet funding to block social media on campus networks- Updates the Children’s Internet Protection Act to include social media platforms

COPPA 2.0 (Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act): Would extend data protection requirements from children under 13 to teens under 16 or even 18 in some versions:

  • Bans targeted advertising for children- Requires deletion of collected data upon parental request- Dramatically expands what constitutes “personal information”- Creates compliance burdens that could force smaller platforms offline

Read more:

Government Censorship Transparency Bills:

  • Disclose Government Censorship Act (S. 1672): Requires disclosure of government communications with platforms about restricting speech- Accountability for Government Censorship Act (H.R. 1162): Mandates federal agencies report actions taken to suppress lawful speech on platforms- Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act: Passed House 219-206 in 2023, prohibits federal employees from advocating for censorship

The State-Level Assault: A Patchwork of Restrictions

While federal legislation stalls, states are implementing their own censorship regimes:

VPN Bans and Restrictions

Wisconsin’s AB 105/SB 130: Would criminalize using VPNs to access age-restricted content, representing one of the first serious attempts in the Western world to restrict VPN usage at the state level.

Michigan’s HB 4938: Goes even further, targeting not just adult content but also content related to transgender expression. Would force ISPs to monitor and block VPN connections and ban the promotion or sale of circumvention tools.

Read more:

The UK’s Precedent: On October 30, 2025, UK Digital Minister Baroness Liz Lloyd announced that banning VPNs remains “on the table” as authorities grapple with users bypassing the Online Safety Act’s age verification requirements. This triggered a 1,400% surge in UK VPN signups according to Proton VPN.

State Age Verification Laws

As of late 2025, 25 U.S. states have passed age verification laws, with many others considering similar legislation:

  • Louisiana led the way in 2023- Followed by Arkansas, Utah, Texas, Arizona, Ohio, and Missouri- Over 40 states have introduced or passed some form of age verification legislation

The result is a compliance nightmare where:

  • Age of a “protected minor” varies from 13 to 18 depending on state and law- Different technical requirements across jurisdictions- Inconsistent enforcement mechanisms- Creating what one analysis calls “concentric circles” of protection that make nationwide services nearly impossible to operate

Read more: The Age Verification Compliance Nightmare: How Businesses Can Navigate America’s Patchwork of Conflicting State Laws

Why This Is Bipartisan Censorship, Not Child Protection

The Evidence Is Clear: These Bills Don’t Protect Children

Technical Reality: Numerous security experts and child safety organizations have explained that these bills won’t achieve their stated goals:

  1. VPN Circumvention: Any tech-savvy teen can bypass age verification and geographic restrictions using VPNs—the same tools these bills try to ban2. Overseas Platforms: Unregulated international platforms will simply ignore U.S. law, creating an underground internet where child safety is actually worse3. False Security: By implementing ineffective age gates, we create a false sense of security while real predators continue to operate4. Driving Kids to Danger: As Fight for the Future’s Lia Holland warned, these bills “will not, in fact, make people or kids in Wisconsin safer; it will just push people further to the fringes”

Youth Opposition: The people these bills claim to protect oppose them. Thousands of young people told the EFF how beneficial access to social media platforms has been for them, and why they feared KOSA’s censorship. Young people said KOSA would negatively impact their artistic education, their ability to find community online, their opportunity for self-discovery, and the ways they learn accurate news and information.

Both Parties Are Complicit

Conservative Motivations Revealed:

  • Heritage Foundation explicitly supports KOSA to censor LGBTQ+ content- Senator Blackburn’s statements about targeting “transgender in this culture”- Republican-led states implementing sweeping VPN bans targeting transgender expression- Trump administration support for takedown mechanisms that censor political critics

Progressive Complicity:

  • Democratic senators co-sponsoring every major censorship bill- Section 230 attacks from Warner, Klobuchar, Hirono, Blumenthal- Bipartisan support for age verification despite privacy community warnings- Supporting “duty of care” frameworks that enable state-level censorship

The Real Agenda: Control, Not Protection

These bills share common features that reveal their true purpose:

  1. Vague Definitions: “Harmful content,” “anxiety,” “mental health disorders”—terms broad enough to capture any content politicians dislike2. Enforcement Through Private Intermediaries: Forcing platforms to self-censor to avoid liability3. Systematic Erosion of Due Process: Takedown systems without meaningful appeal processes4. Destruction of Anonymity: Universal ID requirements eliminate anonymous speech online5. Creation of Surveillance Infrastructure: Age verification databases that track all online activity

As one analysis warns: “If left unchallenged, these laws could become a blueprint for other regimes. Authoritarian governments are watching closely.”

The Global Context: We’re Not Alone

The U.S. censorship push is part of a coordinated global assault on internet freedom:

The UK’s Online Safety Act

Entered aggressive enforcement on July 25, 2025:

  • Mandatory age verification for broad categories of content- ÂŁ18 million ($23.5 million) maximum fines for non-compliance- Considering VPN bans to prevent circumvention- Cloudflare’s unprecedented CDN-level blocking of 200 domains for UK users

The EU’s Digital Services Act

According to a U.S. House Judiciary Committee report, the DSA “pressures U.S. tech companies to enforce global censorship, including on American political speech.” The EU imposed a €120 million fine on X (formerly Twitter) in December 2025—the first penalty under the DSA.

Australia’s Social Media Ban

Implemented the world’s first nationwide social media ban for users under 16, effective December 10, 2025:

  • Platforms face fines up to $49.5 million for non-compliance- Universal ID requirements incoming (despite initial privacy concerns)- The Australian Human Rights Commission has “serious reservations,” advocating for less restrictive alternatives- Teens are already finding ways to bypass the system using photos of dogs to fool facial recognition

Other Authoritarian Models

  • Russia: Systematically eliminating tools for circumventing state censorship, pushing domestic “Max” messaging app with no end-to-end encryption- China: The “Great Firewall” blocks most foreign VPNs as part of comprehensive internet censorship- Vietnam: In September 2025, deactivated over 86 million bank accounts (43% of all accounts) that failed to meet new biometric authentication requirements

The Privacy Disaster: What Happens When Everyone Must Prove Their Age

The Data Collection Nightmare

Any system that verifies age creates surveillance infrastructure:

What Gets Collected:

  • Government-issued ID (driver’s license, passport)- Biometric data (facial scans, fingerprints)- Date of birth and age- Name and address- Social media accounts and browsing history- IP addresses tied to identity

What Can Go Wrong:

  • Discord leaked 70,000 users’ ID photos after UK Online Safety Act compliance- Third-party verification companies get hacked regularly- Data sold to brokers and advertisers- Government surveillance dragnet- No way to delete or correct information once submitted

Read more: The Global Age Verification Disaster: How Privacy Dies in the Name of “Safety” - Comprehensive analysis of age verification failures worldwide

Digital Apartheid: Who Gets Left Behind

Mandatory age verification creates a two-tiered internet:

Those Without Access:

  • Undocumented immigrants- Homeless individuals- Domestic abuse survivors fleeing with no ID- Privacy-conscious citizens- Anyone in 27 states without REAL ID-compliant licenses- The estimated tens of millions of Americans without government-issued ID

The Result: “Digital exclusion where those without government IDs may lose access to much of the internet. Anonymous access to the web could cease to exist.”

The Technical Realities

“Zero-Knowledge” Systems Are Still Surveillance: Industry advocates promote “double-blind” verification systems that promise to verify age without revealing identity. But as experts warn, these still require:

  • Initial identity verification- Trust in verification companies- Centralized databases that can be hacked- No guarantee data won’t be retained, used, shared, or sold

The fundamental problem remains: any system that can verify age can be repurposed for broader identification and tracking.

What You Can Do: Resistance Is Not Futile

Your Voice Has Already Made a Difference

Despite the coordinated push, these bills have been stopped repeatedly:

  • KOSA has been blocked for multiple years due to sustained opposition- The App Store Accountability Act failed to pass in the 118th Congress- House leadership has repeatedly refused to advance these bills despite Senate passage- State-level bills have been defeated or significantly weakened

The EFF thanks supporters who have sent nearly 50,000 messages to Congress on KOSA alone. This works.

Immediate Actions You Can Take

1. Contact Your Representatives

  • Call, don’t just email—it’s more effective- Use Fight for the Future’s tools: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/actions/stop-the-screen-act- Focus on specific bills by name: KOSA, SCREEN Act, App Store Accountability Act- Emphasize you’re a constituent and will remember how they vote

2. Support Digital Rights Organizations These groups are fighting these bills with expertise and resources:

3. Educate Others

  • Share articles about these bills on social media- Explain to friends and family why this isn’t partisan- Emphasize the bipartisan nature of the threat- Focus on privacy and free speech, not political ideology

4. Support Privacy Technology

  • Use VPNs while they’re still legal (ProtonVPN, Mullvad)- Support encrypted messaging (Signal, not unencrypted alternatives)- Use privacy-respecting browsers (Firefox, Brave)- Vote with your wallet for companies that oppose these bills

5. Engage at the State Level

  • Many of these battles are happening in state legislatures- State representatives are more accessible than federal officials- Local activism can stop state-level VPN bans and age verification laws- Attend state legislative hearings when these bills are discussed

What to Say to Lawmakers

Key Talking Points:

  1. “These bills don’t protect children—they create massive surveillance systems”
  • Point to the Discord breach of 70,000 ID photos- Explain how VPNs will be used by tech-savvy kids anyway- Note that vulnerable youth need access to mental health resources online2. “Age verification destroys online anonymity for everyone”
  • Everyone must prove their age, not just children- Anonymous speech is crucial for whistleblowers, activists, abuse survivors- Once this infrastructure exists, it will be expanded3. “This is bipartisan censorship disguised as child protection”
  • Conservative groups admit they want to use KOSA to censor LGBTQ+ content- Progressive senators are enabling Section 230 repeal- Both parties will use these tools against political enemies4. “There are better ways to protect children online”
  • Enforce existing laws against actual predators- Fund digital literacy education- Support parental control tools that don’t require surveillance- Hold platforms accountable for actual child exploitation, not legal speech5. “Your constituents oppose these bills—listen to us”
  • Youth overwhelmingly oppose KOSA- Privacy advocates across the political spectrum oppose these bills- Civil liberties organizations universally condemn this legislation- We will remember how you vote

The Stakes: What We Stand to Lose

The End of Anonymous Speech

Once everyone must verify their identity to access the internet:

  • Whistleblowers can’t safely report wrongdoing- Political dissidents can be tracked and targeted- Journalists’ sources can be identified- Abuse survivors can’t seek help anonymously- LGBTQ+ youth in hostile environments lose safe spaces

Platforms will over-censor to avoid liability:

  • Mental health discussions flagged as promoting self-harm- LGBTQ+ resources removed as “controversial”- Political activism shut down as causing “anxiety”- Sex education blocked as “harmful to minors”- News about difficult topics censored

The Creation of a Surveillance State

The infrastructure built for “child protection” will be expanded:

  • Government tracking of all online activity- Commercial exploitation of identity databases- Political targeting based on browsing history- Social credit systems tied to online behavior- Complete erosion of privacy online

The Destruction of the Internet’s Promise

The internet was supposed to be humanity’s greatest tool for liberation:

  • Free access to information- Platform for marginalized voices- Space for anonymous creativity- Tool for organizing social movements- Means of escaping oppressive environments

These bills would transform it into:

  • Government-controlled information flow- Corporate surveillance apparatus- Tool for political repression- Mechanism for enforcing social conformity- Digital prison with identity gates at every entrance

Conclusion: The Fight Is Now

We stand at a crossroads. The infrastructure being built today will determine whether future generations inherit a free internet or a digital panopticon.

The censorship regime wants you to:

  • Believe this is about “protecting children”- Think your political party will protect you- Feel overwhelmed and give up- Accept that privacy is dead- Assume resistance is futile

The reality is:

  • These are bipartisan censorship bills- Both parties are complicit- Your voice has already stopped these bills before- Privacy technology and digital freedom are worth fighting for- We can still win this fight

Remember: Congress is counting on you giving up. They’re counting on public attention moving to the next crisis. They’re counting on people believing these bills are inevitable.

Don’t give them what they want.

Send those messages to Congress. Support digital rights organizations. Educate your community. Use privacy-protecting tools. Vote for representatives who actually defend civil liberties, regardless of party.

The internet we get is the internet we fight for. And that fight is happening right now, with these 20+ bills threatening to fundamentally transform the digital landscape.

Your voice matters. Your action matters. The time to act is now, before these bills become law and the infrastructure of mass surveillance becomes permanent.

Resources and Further Reading

Organizations Fighting These Bills

Bill Tracking

Essential Reading from the Ecosystem

Bottom Line: The assault on internet freedom is real, it’s bipartisan, and it’s happening now. But resistance has worked before, and it can work again. Don’t let them win by default. Fight back.

This article synthesizes research from EFF, Fight for the Future, congressional bill tracking, ComplianceHub.Wiki, MyPrivacy.Blog, and Breached.Company. All sources and citations are available in the resources section above.