As in the UK and Australia, the political class are using supposed child safety online as a mechanism to create a digital dystopia, smashing what remains of free speech. This is also now being seen in America. The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the proposed SCREEN Act are masquerading as child protection laws while laying the groundwork for mass surveillance. Marketed as shields against online harms, these bills are Trojan horses, threatening to force every American to verify their identity to access the internet, crushing anonymity, chilling free speech, and handing bureaucrats tools to silence dissent. Disturbingly, Republicans, often champions of liberty, are helping push this nightmare into law. Drawing from Australia's and the UK's descent into digital ID regimes, the stakes are clear: if these bills pass, online freedom could vanish forever.
KOSA, reintroduced in May 2025 by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), passed the Senate in July 2024 with a 91-3 vote, also backed by figures like Donald Trump Jr. and Elon Musk's X. It mandates that online platforms, social media, games, messaging apps, implement a "duty of care" to protect minors from harms like cyberbullying, sexual exploitation, and mental health issues. Features include default privacy settings, parental controls, and opt-outs for algorithmic recommendations. The SCREEN Act, less detailed in public discourse but referenced on X as a companion bill, reportedly pushes similar "safety" measures, often tied to age verification.
On the surface, who could argue? Protecting kids from online predators or harmful content sounds noble. But the devil lies in the execution, and these bills' vague language and surveillance mechanisms reveal a darker intent.
KOSA's "duty of care" requires platforms to verify user ages to identify minors, effectively mandating digital ID systems. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) warns that such age verification "requires collecting and storing more personal data, potentially exposing users to greater surveillance and risk." Once your real-world identity is tied to your online activity, every click, post, or search becomes traceable. The SCREEN Act, as described on X, could amplify this, forcing adults to submit IDs to access even basic websites, mirroring Australia's Online Safety Act, where "age checks" have morphed into tools for speech policing.
The UK's experience is a warning: digital IDs are already required for jobs, housing, and healthcare, creating a system where dissenters can be tracked and penalised. A post on X aptly called KOSA the "U.S. version of Europe's censorship laws," predicting it will "kill online anonymity" and "censor dissenting views." If platforms must monitor "harmful" content, they'll over-censor to avoid crippling FTC fines, up to $51,744 per violation, potentially millions for large platforms. The result? A sanitised internet where controversial speech, from political dissent to education, gets buried.
The bipartisan support for KOSA is chilling. Republicans like Blackburn and John Thune, alongside Democrats like Chuck Schumer, tout it as a win for parents. Even conservative heavyweights like Trump Jr. and Musk back it, with Apple endorsing it as a "meaningful" safety step. Yet, as the EFF notes, KOSA's vague "harm" definitions, covering anxiety, eating disorders, or substance abuse, invite abuse. Senator Blackburn's 2024 comments about protecting kids from "transgender" content suggest how the bill could be weaponised under a future administration to target specific ideologies.
This isn't hypothetical. The Heritage Foundation, a Project 2025 organiser, initially criticised KOSA for not explicitly banning transgender healthcare content but later supported it, seeing its potential to censor such material. The ACLU and Fight for the Future warn that even revised versions, which limit state attorneys general's enforcement, still empower the FTC to go after content deemed "harmful," risking censorship of LGBTQ+ resources, racial justice discussions, or climate activism. Republicans, by backing this, are complicit in building a surveillance state they'd otherwise decry.
Australia and the UK show where this leads. Australia's Online Safety Act, enforced by Ofcom since March 2025, mandates platforms to block "harmful" content for kids, using "highly effective age assurance" that often requires digital IDs. This has already limited access to lawful speech, as platforms err on the side of caution. The UK's broader digital ID mandates tie identity to daily life, creating a surveillance web where dissenters face real-world consequences. X posts highlight fears that KOSA and SCREEN could follow suit, turning the U.S. internet into a panopticon where every move is tracked.
These bills reflect a deeper erosion of freedom, dressed up as protection. The same elites pushing "safety" are enabling a system to silence voices that challenge their narrative. This was their agenda all along.
KOSA's fate now rests with the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson has expressed free speech concerns, but faces pressure from 30+ state attorneys general and a coalition of 250+ advocacy groups. If passed, it could normalise digital IDs, end online anonymity, and give the government a backdoor to control speech. The SCREEN Act, though less detailed, appears to double down on this framework, as X users warn. Once implemented, reversing such systems is near impossible, data collected, infrastructure built, and freedoms lost don't return easily.
The solution? Reject KOSA and SCREEN outright. Push for targeted laws that address real harms, like child exploitation, without mandating mass surveillance. Demand transparency from platforms, not identity verification. And call out Republicans for betraying their principles. If we don't act, the internet will become a walled citadel, and our cities' decay will have a digital twin: a post-apocalyptic net where only approved voices survive.
https://www.vigilantfox.com/p/digital-id-the-shocking-plan-to-kill