Who could have possibly seen this coming? Answer: Every single one of us that has warned about the dangers of these "age verification" laws. Giving up your #privacy is NOT worth it!

Late-night isn’t just entertainment—it’s resistance. “If everyone watched late night we would not be in this situation.” Why satire matters now more than ever → https://c4osl.org/the-assassination-of-charlie-kirk-and-the-censorship-of-jimmy-kimmel/

I think you completely misunderstand what this bill represents. Read up on it www.patrick-breyer.de/en/posts/cha...

"If history teaches us anything, these projects of moral and social purity are doomed to fail... But the costs of these panics—censorship, stigma, surveillance and state-sanctioned discrimination and violence—are borne by real people whose freedoms and dignities are stripped in the process."

The warning signs are everywhere. Will we listen? “We’re not in Nazi Germany yet, but we got to be conscious of the fact that we could be getting there.” Full episode → https://c4osl.org/the-assassination-of-charlie-kirk-and-the-censorship-of-jimmy-kimmel/

Hollow promises of a safer Internet for children are creating an online future where: - Everything you do is tracked - Only government-approved content is available - Youth are cut off from communities, resources, and self-expression Help: https://c4osl.org/support-us/

It’s bigger than jokes—it’s about freedom. “Defending free expression isn’t just about late-night comedy—it’s about safeguarding democracy itself.” Listen here → https://c4osl.org/the-assassination-of-charlie-kirk-and-the-censorship-of-jimmy-kimmel/

📣 Germany's close to reversing its opposition to mass surveillance & private message scanning, & backing the Chat Control bill. This could end private comms-& Signal-in the EU. Time's short and they're counting on obscurity: please let German politicians know how horrifying their reversal would be.

Yup. “Protecting children” is a trojan horse for control and grabbing power. Every single legislation have two things that’s telling: A) there’s no responsibility on parents to monitor their own kids. B) They pretend parental controls in browsers, ISPs, routers, games, & TVs dont already exist.

NEW: breach of Discord age verification data. Including some users passports & DLs Age verification is a badly implemented data grab wrapped in a moral panic. Mark my words, as age verification mandates expand, we'll end up more surveilled and less secure. 1/

"For law enforcement to remove artwork from a public institution could have a 'chilling' effect on other museums and artists, Mann said." www.npr.org/2025/09/24/n...

Digital rights are under threat from misleading and simplistic appeals to child safety. We're fighting back and building a better way. That’s what your donation supports. ->https://c4osl.org/support-us/ #FOSS #OpenSourceCommunities #LegalTech #Nonprofit

Support for Digital Rights and Safety Projects!! Volunteers already do enough. They shouldn’t also have to be fighting censorship and filling in paperwork. We're building infrastructure to support them. ->Donate: https://c4osl.org/support-us/ #FOSS #Maintainers

Under HB 4938, Michigan lawmakers want to criminalize ASMR, “moaning audio,” AI art, cosplay, digital art, and even written stories. Ordinary creativity, rebranded as “obscenity.” Learn more and act now: https://c4osl.org/stop-hb-4938-michigans-attack-on-free-expression/ #Censorship #ASMR #Art

From incorporating an entity, to filtering abusive content, to raising funds — legal barriers slow down community projects. We build free, open tools and infrastructure to remove those barriers. ->@ https://c4osl.org/support-us/ #OpenSource #Governance

so the US government just forced a tech company to delete an app it doesn’t like, which is totally normal stuff www.404media.co/iceblock-own...

ICE is buying a location tracking tool that harvests data from hundreds of millions of phones a day. Protect your location data by updating a few settings on your phone 🧵 (1/4): www.404media.co/ice-to-buy-...

"The communities most at risk are the ones already targeted. HB 4938 explicitly bans content that depicts 'a disconnection between biology and gender.' That is a deliberate attempt to equate LGBTQ+ identity with obscenity." https://c4osl.org/stop-hb-4938-michigans-attack-on-free-expression/ #LGBTQ #

If a post doesn’t break the platform’s rules, it shouldn’t come down. If a user hasn’t violated any policies, their account shouldn’t be suspended. But platforms aren’t living up to that basic standard. www.eff.org/pages/platf... #StopCensoringAbortion

At the Center for Online Safety and Liberty, we provide fiscal sponsorship, fundraising, and hosting support for projects that support our mission. We're a nonprofit working in service of the commons. Support our mission: https://c4osl.org/support-us/ #FOSS #OpenSource

This is a good case study of 1) how vague the teen social ban policy is, and 2) how eager the govt is to handball off responsibility. The laws *could* apply to Wikipedia, so its they asked for confirmation. The govt won't confirm bc it's leaving enforcement up to the eSafety commissioner.

Seconding this post. Please keep calling and mailing. ESPECIALLY if you're in Germany. If Germany flips to opposed, with how the current shakeup is looking, chatcontrol is dead in the water once again.

A form of #FreeSpeech and access to information that people often don’t think about: the ubiquitous Wi‑Fi signals that surround us.

Open source depends on more than code — it needs legal support too. The Center for Online Safety and Liberty provides a legal structure for independent projects and communities, so you don't need to worry about paperwork. ->Support us at https://c4osl.org/support-us/ #OpenSource

PEN America has released their latest report on the state of school book bans in 2024-2025. They've found nearly 23,000 book bans since 2021, and there were 6,870 in 2024-2025. This report is crucial reading for understanding the state of book censorship right now. bookriot.com/pen-america-...

Payment processor censorship mentioned as a reason. Horrible

SESTA/FOSTA backfired miserably. The UK's age verification law backfired miserably. The TikTok ban is backfiring miserably. So of course @blumenthal.senate.gov has decided now is a great time to revive the terribly written Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) which will ... spoiler... backfire miserably

"The scope reaches even further. HB 4938 bans ASMR, “moaning audio,” AI-generated content, cosplay, digital art, and written stories, sweeping ordinary creativity into a regime of censorship." https://c4osl.org/stop-hb-4938-michigans-attack-on-free-expression/ #ASMR #Censorship #Art #FreeExpression

"If it passes, Michigan would become the first state in the country to attempt a complete ban on online pornography while also criminalizing gender expression." https://c4osl.org/stop-hb-4938-michigans-attack-on-free-expression/ #FreeSpeech #FreeExpression

⚠️Red Alert ⚠️ Senators Blumenthal & Blackburn are trying to garner support this week for their censorship bill the "Kids Online Safety Act" #KOSA https://www.tiktok.com/@peterispeter/video/7555656655946534175

And porn. If you're touting "science" about the damaging effects of pornography you're carrying water for right-wing orgs that for ten years have pushed anti-porn (anti-masturbation) pseudoscience as a justification for censorship of sex and sexuality online. Porn is not "a public health crisis."

"It is a direct assault on free speech, LGBTQ+ identity, and the open internet we all rely on." https://c4osl.org/stop-hb-4938-michigans-attack-on-free-expression/ #FreeSpeech #LGBTQ

The legislator behind the new Ohio age-verification law doesn't even know what's in the bill. He claims that it excludes social media sites. No such language exists. This is why you don't push something you couldn't get passed the normal way into an budget omnibus. www.wkbn.com/news/ohio/ho...

Michigan’s HB 4938 is a direct assault on free speech, LGBTQ+ identity, and the open internet we all rely on. Censorship is not safety. It silences communities instead of protecting them. Take action: https://c4osl.org/stop-hb-4938-michigans-attack-on-free-expression/ #Censorship #FreeSpeech

My best advice for parents re: harmful content: show genuine interest in the stuff your kid is watching and doing online. Let them talk your ear off about Minecraft and Roblox and the funny video they just watched. Make them feel excited to share with you, vs making them feel ashamed or judged

"Freedom is never tested on the speech we all find agreeable. It is tested at the edges—where disgust and fear can tempt us to hand the state a weapon it will inevitably turn against far more than 'scoundrels.'" https://c4osl.org/september-2025-newsletter

"Whether Newsom signs or vetoes the bill will signal the state’s stance on whether platform liability should override free expression." https://reclaimthenet.org/california-social-media-algorithm-liability-bill-sb771 #FreeExpression #Censorship

"As it is, the system is flooded with false positives, a wave of people are suffering account bans over innocent content, and people such as parents, grandparents, and children themselves are being falsely implicated in child sex crimes due to overzealous policing." c4osl.org/september-20...

"A win would reaffirm a crucial boundary: the state does not get to police your private thoughts or the private creations you keep at home. It would also steer prosecutors away from using § 1466A to criminalize virtual, victimless content" c4osl.org/cosl-files-a...

For-profit age-verification providers are now pushing for "continuous biometric monitoring" — AI scans of your face, your voice, your behavior — while you're online to protect children. Every session. Every website. Every keystroke. Monitored and recorded.

"Law enforcement efforts that centers on punishing 'scoundrels' for being 'disgusting' detract from the more important task of preventing actual crimes, and bringing justice to real victims" https://c4osl.org/september-2025-newsletter

MIchigan GOP state legislators file bill banning VPNs, dirty manga, ASMR, and any depiction of "a disconnection between biology and gender by an individual of 1 biological sex imitating, depicting, or representing himself or herself to be of the other biological sex."

"Put those together and you see the playbook: redefine 'obscenity' or create adjacent categories to criminalize content that has long been protected when no real person is harmed—often with explicit carve-outs aimed at queer and trans communities." c4osl.org/cosl-files-a...

"In the Anderegg case, the government is testing the waters with a defendant for whom it may be difficult to feel sympathy." https://c4osl.org/september-2025-newsletter

"If this were just about one defendant, it wouldn’t make our front page. It’s about the bigger project we’re seeing from some lawmakers and prosecutors to expand obscenity until it swallows everything they don’t like, then use that label to police culture and private life." c4osl.org/cosl-files-a...

Free speech thrives when safety does, too. 🌐❤️ On Sept 22, we’re bringing together experts from @penamerica.bsky.social, @glaad.bsky.social, and @19thnews.org to talk about protecting expression online. Free | ASL included Register now: www.eventbrite.com/e/connected-...

New research recommends "abandoning the fallacy that we can simply “nerd harder” our way to youth safety—and instead embracing the more challenging work of developing comprehensive, nuanced approaches". https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/poi3.70012

"It's for this reason that so many free speech battles concern pornography, a stigmatized form of expression with few vocal defenders (think of the Hustler lawsuit, immortalized in the film The People vs Larry Flynt)." https://c4osl.org/september-2025-newsletter

"At the heart of the appeal is a bedrock principle from a 1969 case Stanley v. Georgia: the state cannot criminalize the private possession of obscene material in the home." https://c4osl.org/cosl-files-an-anti-thoughtcrime-amicus-brief/ #FreeSpeech

Wrote about The Heritage Foundation's plan to weaponize the FBI against transgender people's existence, which includes banning me from saying that's what they're doing