1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

As a member of several marginalized communities, I'm deeply dismayed at the advancement of the KOSA bill and urge you, my representatives, to oppose it. KOSA will not protect kids. It will instead make them more vulnerable, just as SESTA-FOSTA made sex workers more vulnerable. Simply put, Congress has no competency in addressing these issues, and it's shameful to put the burden of these mistakes onto vulnerable groups. Now, children will be the victims of this latest election-year blunder. First, the aim of the bill is based on bad science. Correlation of social media usage with mental health symptoms doesn't show which direction causation goes. That's in contrast to the dire need for more affordable mental healthcare, which isn't addressed at all by KOSA! In fact, by suppressing information about mental health options it could very well contribute to the problem. Second, the bill's enforcement BENEFITS large social media companies overall by ensuring smaller, less-resourced competitors are subject to similar requirements. If the law is later overturned in the courts (which is quite possible!), it will take years to repair the damage to the market. Third, social media companies will evade enforcement by avoiding information that could protect their users. They will avoid data that suggests children are using their service, and proceed as if those children weren't present. This will subject those children to MORE harmful content than they'd see otherwise. Fourth, this bill would give the Republican party license to forcefully censor wide swaths of content they disagree with ideologically. They've already declared their intent to do so. Yes, that means THEY WOULD CENSOR ADS FOR DEMOCRATS which contain themes of LGBT+ acceptance, or mental health, or which refer to violent rhetoric by Republicans! Why in God's name would Democrats gleefully give them this weapon?? I shouldn't need to remind you that Republicans have set out to attack the foundations of our democracy. Of all the things Democrats could be doing in Congress today, advancing the Republican agenda is the last your constituents want to see. Stop KOSA! Focus on stopping the Republicans from ripping our democracy to shreds instead. Please.