Hey John,

Just as we gear up for next week’s Stop Online ID Checks Week of Action, lawmakers in DC are showing us why we need it.

On Tuesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will consider a whopping 19 “kids safety” bills, many of which risk making age verification and online censorship a mainstay of the modern Internet. Among them is a familiar foe, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA),¹ along with bills requiring ID checks to download apps and even banning youth under 16 from social media altogether.²

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: censorship doesn’t keep kids safe. Online ID checks only put marginalized youth, along with abortion seekers, queer and trans people, journalists, and activists further at risk by restricting their access to information and free expression online.³

That’s why we’re hosting a week of events, actions, and general mischief-making starting Monday to raise the alarm about the dangers posed by these bad bills.We’re itching to see letters flowing into inboxes, op-eds on front pages, and anti-censorship trending. While the Fight team gets all the finals pieces into place, I wanted to ask: can you spare $5 or $15 to fuel the Stop Online ID Checks Week of Action?

With the disastrous implementation of the UK Online Safety Act⁴ and online ID check bills across the US,⁵ we’ve already seen the impacts of age-gating: popular games, Reddit, Bluesky, and X locked away,⁴ tens of thousands of IDs leaked online,⁶ and millions restricted from seeking out life-saving information. The lawmakers pushing these dangerous bills, and the companies pre-complying without a second thought, need to hear from us about the risks.

Last time we mobilized hard, just 147 supporters pitching in $30 each helped VPN defenders send more than 15,000 letters to lawmakers in a single day! This time, we have a whole week to build the momentum we need...but many more moving pieces to fund, too. Our team of artists, activists, and technologists relies on your support to make big things like this happen on a small budget. Can you make a gift of any size today to ensure we turn the tide against age-gating censorship?

Thanks for your support! You can join our Urgent Actions Signal Chat or keep an eye on your inbox for quick ways to take action on Monday.

Let’s do this,

Alex at Fight for the Future

Footnotes:
1. Stop KOSA: https://www.stopkosa.com/

2. The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/news/829492/house-energy-commerce-kids-online-safety-package

3. Stop Online ID Checks: https://www.stoponlineidchecks.org/

4. The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/analysis/714587/uk-online-safety-act-age-verification-reactions

5. FSC Action: https://action.freespeechcoalition.com/age-verification-bills/

6. Proton: https://proton.me/blog/discord-age-verfication-breach

Fight for the Future, PO Box 55071 #95005, Boston, MA 02205
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