Friday Digest #10: Big Tech, Censorship & Child Safety
Hi, it’s Sam. Welcome to the 10th edition of Week in Review!
This week, five big tech CEOs were summoned before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify during a hearing on child safety and the impact of social media.
It was all largely predictable: Mark Zuckerberg apologized to parents, Facebook’s data collection policies were called “creepy,” and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced a barrage of questions which have rightly been criticized as "xenophobic" and "McCarthy-esque.”
With most of the headlines focusing on these spats, I wanted to look at the wider context in which proposed legislative measures — notably the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) — are rapidly gaining support in Congress and among big tech CEOs.
Despite increased support for the bill, it’s still a controversial piece of legislation that could radically undermine internet freedoms if passed. This week, we’ll take a closer look at KOSA and explore what it could mean for internet censorship and surveillance in the US and abroad.
Originally introduced in 2022, KOSA has gone through various revisions and has now gained wide cross-party congressional support and big tech firms are following suit, with Microsoft, Snap and Twitter recently coming out in support of the legislation.
However, the bill has faced sustained criticisms from a range of digital rights organisations that have highlighted the legislation’s potential to undermine internet privacy and increase internet censorship.
Central to these arguments are provisions that would provide unprecedented legal powers to remove vaguely-defined harmful content and implement age-verification measures that would affect everyone.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has argued the bill “will compel even the smallest online forums to take action against content that politicians believe will cause minors ‘anxiety',’ ‘depression,’ or encourage substance abuse, among other behaviors.”
Clearly, this broad language opens the door to excessive and arbitrary censorship of various content, including truthful news about important topics such as conflict and climate change. There are also legitimate concerns that LGBTQ+ content would be targeted and taken down.
It certainly wouldn't be the first time that LGBTQ+ content became collateral damage when governments pursue child safety policies.
EFF: “[KOSA] is not a safety bill—it is a surveillance and censorship bill.”
As someone who has followed the UK’s Online Safety Bill closely over the past few years, the parallels are alarming. Not only are they both vague enough to usher in unprecedented levels of internet censorship and surveillance, they are also both guilty of trying to solve a complex issue with a single, technological solution.
I think this quote from danah boyd’s newsletter sums it up perfectly:
In all of these discussions, we keep centering technology. Technology is the problem, technology should be the solution. What if, instead, we focused on what challenges young people are facing?
While the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) raises valid concerns about child safety online, it is crucial to recognize that safeguarding our children's well-being extends beyond the digital realm.
To address the complex challenges young people face today, we should be working towards holistic solutions that not only focus on technology but also consider the broader societal factors impacting their mental health and safety.
Only when this is achieved is there any hope of passing legislation that protects our online spaces while upholding the safety of children online and in the real world.
More on This…
danah boyd: KOSA isn’t designed to help kids.
EFF: The Kids Online Safety Act is Still A Huge Danger to Our Rights Online
Fight for The Future: Reject online censorship. Tell lawmakers to oppose KOSA!
The Verge: How the Kids Online Safety Act puts us all at risk
Tech Policy Press: Overcoming Fear and Frustration with the Kids Online Safety Act
What We’ve Been Reading
Access Now: Between a hack and a hard place: how Pegasus spyware crushes civic space in Jordan
A joint investigation by Access Now, the Citizen Lab, and local partners has uncovered the extensive use of NSO Group's Pegasus spyware in Jordan, targeting at least 35 journalists, activists, human rights lawyers, and civil society members between 2019 and 2023. You can read their technical brief here, along with Citizen Lab’s report.
Ars Technica: Apple warns proposed UK law will affect software updates around the world
Apple has expressed deep concern over proposed amendments to the UK's Snooper’s Charter, which could grant the UK government the power to secretly veto privacy and security updates to Apple's products. The tech giant warns that if enacted, these changes would not only affect UK users but also have global implications, potentially allowing the UK to control the rollout of new user protections worldwide and stifling innovation and commerce in security technologies.
The Atlantic: The Rise of Techno-Authoritarianism
This essay from Adrienne LaFrance discusses the rise of a new political ideology in Silicon Valley. It critiques the self-interested and often damaging actions of these tech giants, highlighting their role in spreading disinformation and their impact on individual rights and global democracy. The piece also explores the broader implications of this technocratic ideology, which prioritizes technological advancement and profit over public good and safety.
Reuters: US disrupts Chinese hacking campaign targeting critical infrastructure, officials say
U.S. officials have disrupted a major Chinese spying operation, named Volt Typhoon, which targeted critical American infrastructure and could have been used against the U.S. in the future. The operation, conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI, involved removing malicious software from hundreds of U.S. routers that were part of a botnet controlled by Chinese state-sponsored hackers.
TechCrunch: NSA is buying Americans’ internet browsing records without a warrant
The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) is purchasing large amounts of web browsing data on Americans from commercial data brokers without requiring a warrant. This practice, which involves buying netflow data that can reveal sensitive information about individuals' internet activities, raises significant privacy concerns and legal questions about the NSA's methods of intelligence gathering.
New York Times: China’s Censorship Dragnet Targets Critics of the Economy
China is intensifying its crackdown on criticism of the country's economy, targeting economists, financial analysts, investment banks, and social media influencers. The campaign, which includes censoring news articles and social media content about financial struggles and poor living standards, aims to control public opinion and maintain a positive narrative about China's economic performance, despite challenges like local government debt, a struggling stock market, and a real estate crisis.
Ars Technica: OpenAI says mysterious chat histories resulted from account takeover
OpenAI officials have stated that the ChatGPT chat histories, which a user reported and included private data like unpublished research papers, resulted from his account being compromised, with unauthorized logins originating from Sri Lanka. The user, Chase Whiteside, who logs in from Brooklyn, New York, doubted the compromise, noting his use of a strong, unique password, and the incident raises concerns about the lack of user account protections like two-factor authentication (2FA) and IP location tracking on the ChatGPT platform.
The Supreme Court of India has ordered the publication of review committee orders related to internet shutdowns in Jammu and Kashmir. This move comes in response to the Supreme Court's May 2020 judgment, which required the formation of a special committee to assess the necessity of internet restrictions in the region.
Top10VPN.com in the News
The Daily Upside: For Sale: Your Data
Radio France Internationale: Les coupures d'internet et de réseaux sociaux coûteux pour l'économie africaine
The Independent: How Black Mirror-style surveillance culture could be making workers less productive