SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
The Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA, H.R. 1865) might sound appealing, but it would do nothing to fight sex traffickers. What it would do is silence a lot of legitimate speech online, shutting some voices out of online spaces. (Image: EFF)
Stop SESTA/FOSTA: Don't Let Congress Censor the Internet
This bill might sound appealing, but it would do nothing to fight sex traffickers. What it would do is silence a lot of legitimate speech online, shutting some voices out of online spaces.
Mar 08, 2018
The U.S. Senate is about to vote on a bill that would be disastrous for online speech and communities.
The Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA, H.R. 1865) might sound appealing, but it would do nothing to fight sex traffickers. What it would do is silence a lot of legitimate speech online, shutting some voices out of online spaces.
This dangerous bill has already passed the House of Representatives, and it's expected to come up for a Senate vote in the next few days. If you care about preserving the Internet as a place where everyone can gather, learn, and share ideas--even controversial ones--it's time to call your senators.
The version of FOSTA that's passed the House is actually a Frankenstein combination of two different bills, an earlier version of FOSTA and a bill called the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA).
How would one bill do so much damage to communities online? Simple: it would scare online platforms into censoring their users.
Online platforms are enabled by a law referred to as Section 230. Section 230 protects online platforms from liability for some types of speech by their users. Without Section 230, social media would not exist in its current form, and neither would the plethora of nonprofit and community-based online groups that serve as crucial outlets for free expression and knowledge sharing.
If Congress undermined these important protections by passing SESTA/FOSTA, many online platforms would be forced to place strong restrictions on their users' speech, censoring a lot of people in the process. And as we've discussed before, when platforms clamp down on their users' speech, marginalized voices are disproportionately silenced.
Censorship is not the solution to sex trafficking. This is our last chance: call your senators now and urge them to oppose SESTA/FOSTA.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Elliot Harmon
Elliot Harmon is an activist at Electronic Frontier Foundation, focusing on patent law and intellectual property issues.
The U.S. Senate is about to vote on a bill that would be disastrous for online speech and communities.
The Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA, H.R. 1865) might sound appealing, but it would do nothing to fight sex traffickers. What it would do is silence a lot of legitimate speech online, shutting some voices out of online spaces.
This dangerous bill has already passed the House of Representatives, and it's expected to come up for a Senate vote in the next few days. If you care about preserving the Internet as a place where everyone can gather, learn, and share ideas--even controversial ones--it's time to call your senators.
The version of FOSTA that's passed the House is actually a Frankenstein combination of two different bills, an earlier version of FOSTA and a bill called the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA).
How would one bill do so much damage to communities online? Simple: it would scare online platforms into censoring their users.
Online platforms are enabled by a law referred to as Section 230. Section 230 protects online platforms from liability for some types of speech by their users. Without Section 230, social media would not exist in its current form, and neither would the plethora of nonprofit and community-based online groups that serve as crucial outlets for free expression and knowledge sharing.
If Congress undermined these important protections by passing SESTA/FOSTA, many online platforms would be forced to place strong restrictions on their users' speech, censoring a lot of people in the process. And as we've discussed before, when platforms clamp down on their users' speech, marginalized voices are disproportionately silenced.
Censorship is not the solution to sex trafficking. This is our last chance: call your senators now and urge them to oppose SESTA/FOSTA.
Elliot Harmon
Elliot Harmon is an activist at Electronic Frontier Foundation, focusing on patent law and intellectual property issues.
The U.S. Senate is about to vote on a bill that would be disastrous for online speech and communities.
The Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA, H.R. 1865) might sound appealing, but it would do nothing to fight sex traffickers. What it would do is silence a lot of legitimate speech online, shutting some voices out of online spaces.
This dangerous bill has already passed the House of Representatives, and it's expected to come up for a Senate vote in the next few days. If you care about preserving the Internet as a place where everyone can gather, learn, and share ideas--even controversial ones--it's time to call your senators.
The version of FOSTA that's passed the House is actually a Frankenstein combination of two different bills, an earlier version of FOSTA and a bill called the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA).
How would one bill do so much damage to communities online? Simple: it would scare online platforms into censoring their users.
Online platforms are enabled by a law referred to as Section 230. Section 230 protects online platforms from liability for some types of speech by their users. Without Section 230, social media would not exist in its current form, and neither would the plethora of nonprofit and community-based online groups that serve as crucial outlets for free expression and knowledge sharing.
If Congress undermined these important protections by passing SESTA/FOSTA, many online platforms would be forced to place strong restrictions on their users' speech, censoring a lot of people in the process. And as we've discussed before, when platforms clamp down on their users' speech, marginalized voices are disproportionately silenced.
Censorship is not the solution to sex trafficking. This is our last chance: call your senators now and urge them to oppose SESTA/FOSTA.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.