Online Child Protection Laws

 

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My thoughts on CIPA/COPPA and any other child online protection law that will or will not pass are more harmful than good and do nothing to protect children from harm. 

Proponents of these bills state that they will help curb child sexual grooming and abuse. Then why, in 93% of cases of sexual abuse against a minor, did the victim know the perpetrator, 77 % of them were a parental figure? That's not online.

They bring up issues of Anorexia and bullying behaviors being limited. Even without social media, Fatphobia is so ingrained in Western culture in TV shows and movies with skinny adult actors playing teens, ads on the TV, in the stores, and magazines. They also get it from relatives, doctors, and other adult figures. As a person who was bullied in their Elementary School days, today's bullying is entirely different from the social isolation I experienced. One could say cyberbullying is the worst as it can happen 24/7, and you have no clue who it might be doing and no matter how many times you block or delete messages, they still come through. On the other hand, in-person bullying can be worse, as one student stated, "You can't block face-to-face bullying." Sometimes, it even leads to assault or death if one attempts to ignore or "incorrectly" responds to it.

 Dear Teachers, saying, "Just ignore them. They're doing it because they are jealous/like you," is not good advice.

As to limiting suicidal behavior, recent research says that increased screen time MAY be linked to increased self-harm and suicidal behaviors. Note the MAY being bolded and underlined here, as it is not the only actual factor for the increase in suicidal behaviors. The thing is, not discussing issues of suicidal behaviors stigmatizes it. Hence, people who experience these thoughts suffer in silence either from the social stigma of mental health or social media algorithms making them censor themselves, such as the "unalive" tag on TikTok. Our communities also have peers stating, "Man up, big girls don't cry. What do you have to cry about? Quit being so lazy, or pray harder. I'm even more amazed that more children are not diagnosed with depression and anxiety today, with politicians caring more about stupid test scores and the rights of metal death weapons over the mental health of children. The same government is fighting over whether a select group of people have the right to exist and use the preferred bathroom while the planet is on fire and modern-day genocide is happening.

The new child internet safety bill KOSA is the most harmful of the internet safety bills as it would hide LGBTQIA+ (Queer) materials from children. Proponents of this bill state that by allowing state attorney generals to have the choice whether they want to sue online platforms if they deem it is showing unsafe materials to minors. The same attorney generals who sent child protective services to trans-affirming parents and tried to band gender-affirming care? Even if the attorney generals don't sue online platformers, how do we know that schools will not over-censor information? One school district went so far as to block access to NASA. Even if there are blocks in place, a back door or another site will pop up, taking the original's place. I remember that in high school, Facebook was banned on the school computers, but I still saw my classmates on it as they got through on a Chinese website. The American Library Association also pointed out that putting in bans/filters costs money. One needs to have a server that blocks all the websites and terms, and then all the users are allowed. Then, there is maintenance and upkeep of the servers themselves. There is also the consequence of expanding the digital divide.

 

Danah Boyd must be living under a rock when it comes to their comment that COPPA teaches kids to lie about their age online. Lying about your age online is the cornerstone of Millennial and Gen Xers' youth. Even I did it, I didn't talk to anyone online. I watched movie and anime trailers with "adult themes," aka a lot of violence and blood, as they were vampire series.

 

I find these types of internet "child protection laws" as just another form of fascism and censorship. These bills erode democracy and prevent teenagers, the largest up-and-coming voting group, from having the language and tools to be active citizens in their government. 

 

What would help children online would be comprehensive sex education classes. Social media companies must de-emphasize the importance of legal names and facial images of users to protect themselves from harassment. Social Media companies must also take allegations of racial, gender identity, and sexual identity harassment seriously over freedom of speech protections.

 

Citations

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Clerkin, Bridget, and Michelle Ervin. "Fat Shaming | the Devastating Effects." Withinhealth.com, 9 Feb. 2024, withinhealth.com/learn/articles/fat-shaming. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

Crane, Marisa. "The Racist History of Fatphobia and Weight Stigma." Withinhealth.com, 13 Apr. 2022, withinhealth.com/learn/articles/the-racist-history-of-fatphobia-and-weight-stigma.

Jones, Shervin. "New KOSA Bill Still Threatens LGBTQ Access to Internet." Www.washingtonblade.com, 7 Mar. 2024, www.washingtonblade.com/2024/03/07/opinion-kosa/. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

Luria, Aliya Bhatia, Michal. "Restricting Access to Information Online Won't Keep Teens Safe. It Will Only Erode Democratic Rights." Ms. Magazine, 23 Jan. 2024, msmagazine.com/2024/01/23/kids-safe-online-access-social-media-censorship/.

Mass General Brigham McLean Hospital. "How Stigma Affects Mental Health | McLean Hospital." Www.mcleanhospital.org, www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/stigma. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

MathewsonTara García. "Schools Are Censoring Websites for Suicide Prevention, Sex Ed, and Even NASA." USA TODAY, 13 Apr. 2024, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/04/13/school-porn-filters-block-suicide-prevention-lgbtq-sites/73293675007/.

National Children's Alliance. "National Statistics on Child Abuse." National Children's Alliance, National Children's Alliance, 2023, www.nationalchildrensalliance.org/media-room/national-statistics-on-child-abuse/.

Newton, Casey. "How the Kids Online Safety Act Puts Us All at Risk." The Verge, 4 Aug. 2023, www.theverge.com/2023/8/4/23819578/kosa-kids-online-safety-act-privacy-danger.

Queensland University of Technology. "Face-To-Face Bullying Worse than Cyber-Attacks, Students Say." ScienceDaily, 11 Mar. 2015, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150311091046.htm.

Rainn. "Children and Teens: Statistics | RAINN." Rainn.org, RAINN, 2021, www.rainn.org/statistics/children-and-teens.

SIECUS. "The SIECUS State Profiles - the State of Sex Ed." SIECUS, 2023, siecus.org/state-profiles/.

Singhal, Nikhita, editor. "Stigma, Prejudice and Discrimination against People with Mental Illness." American Psychiatric Association, 2020, www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/stigma-and-discrimination.

Statista Research Department. "Child Abuse in the U.S. - Reported Victims by State 2021." Statista, 26 Jan. 2022, www.statista.com/statistics/203841/number-of-child-abuse-cases-in-the-us-by-state/.

Tait, Amelia. "Are TikTok Algorithms Changing How People Talk about Suicide?" Wired, 27 May 2022, www.wired.com/story/algorithms-suicide-unalive/.

Vaas, Lisa. "Cyberbullying Is Worse than Face-To-Face Bullying, Teens Say." Sophos News, 24 Sept. 2015, news.sophos.com/en-us/2015/09/24/cyberbullying-is-worse-than-face-to-face-bullying-teens-say/.

Vox Creative. "The Global Spread of Weight Stigma." Vox, 10 Aug. 2022, www.vox.com/ad/23292474/the-global-spread-of-weight-stigma. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.