Comment by Asooka

10 days ago

> Especially in the current political climate

I am forever thankful that Trump won the last election. If it were a Democrat party at the helm it would be practically impossible to have opposition to this, as most of the left would simply fall in line and cancel anyone daring to oppose the party. Look at how Obama strengthened the Patriot Act and carried out mass deportations with but a tiny grumble from the press.

2 comments

Asooka

uncletammy 10 days ago

Here is a list of every state and federal bill proposed in the United States in recent history (that I could find). Have a look at the letter beside the names of the sponsors. Then, after you've discovered that online surveillance bills are almost entirely written by republicans, go read about how your president is bankrolling ICE and their purchase of US citizen's air travel data.

    Protecting Kids from Social Media Act (Tennessee HB 1891)
    Sponsors Representative William Lamberth (R‑TN) 
    Requires: Social media platforms to verify users’ ages and obtain parental consent for under‑18 users; restricts retention of verification data; allows parental monitoring & time limits. Went into effect January 1, 2025.

    Utah Social Media Regulation Act (SB 152 & HB 311)
    Sponsors: Sen. Michael McKell (R) , Rep. Jordan Teuscher (R-District 44)
    Requires: Mandatory age verification for all users; parental consent and oversight for under‑18s; bans algorithmic targeting to minors; curfews; data‑privacy protections. (As of mid‑2025, enforcement blocked by litigation.) 

    The Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act (Mississippi HB 1126)
    Sponsors: Walker Montgomery (R‑MS)
    Requires: Digital service platforms to verify age using "commercially reasonable" methods, obtain parental consent for users under 18, limit collection/use of minor’s data, moderate harmful content (self‑harm, grooming, etc.)

    Texas SCOPE Act (HB 18, “Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment”)
    Sponsors: Bryan Hughes (R-District 5)
    Requires: Platforms to verify the parent/guardian age if the account is for a minor; parental consent before collecting data for users under 18; content filtering for self‑harm, etc. Enforcement partially blocked by lawsuit. 

    Kids Online Safety & Privacy Act (S. 2073 – pending)
    Sponsors: Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA)
    Requires: Commission study into age‑verification technologies; does not mandate verification itself

    Utah Social Media Regulation Act S.B. 152
    Sponsors: Sen. Todd Weiler (R)
    Requires: Mandatory age verification, parental consent, time‑bed restrictions, limits on algorithmic recommendations; currently blocked in court 

    Mississippi Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act (HB 1126)
    Sponsors: Representative Walker Montgomery (R‑MS)
    Requires: Age verification for digital services, parental consent, limits on data collection and harmful content moderation

    Georgia Protecting Georgia’s Children on Social Media Act (SB 351 / Act 463)
    Sponsors: State Senator Brandon Beach (R)
    Requires: Platforms verify age of new users; under‑16 require parental consent; schools to ban social media access 

    Virginia Amendment to VA Consumer Data Protection Act (SB 854)
    Sponsors: Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg (D) , Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D)
    Requires: Requires age determination, parental consent for under‑16, limits usage to 1 hour/day unless overridden by parent, fines up to $7,500 per violation

    Louisiana HB 142 (and HB 570) Online Age Verification for Adult Content
    Sponsors: Representative Laurie Schlegel (R)
    Requires: Websites where ≥ 33% of content is adult must verify users are 18+ via IDs or transaction data; private causes of action allowed

    Ohio HB 96 (2025 law)
    Sponsors: Bryan Stewart (R-Ashville)
    Requires: Criminal penalties for commercial sites failing to verify adult content users 

    Iowa SF 207 / HF 864
    Sponsors: Kevin Alons (R-Disctrict 7)

    Texas SB 2420 (App-Store Age Verification)
    Sponsors: Angela Paxton (R)

    South Carolina HB 3405
    Sponsors: Representative Brandon Guffey (R‑SC) prefiled Jan 2025
    Proposed: Require app stores to verify age and obtain parental consent for minors; still pending


    Protecting Kids on Social Media Act (S. 1291 federal bill)
    Sponsored by: Senator Brian Schatz (D‑HI), Senators Tom Cotton (R‑AR), Chris Murphy (D‑CT), Katie Britt (R‑AL) 
    Requires: Social media platforms to verify user ages, prohibit access to under‑13s, block algorithmic feeds to users under 18, require parental consent for minors

    App Store Accountability Act (H.R. 10364 / companion Senate bill)
    Sponsored by: Rep. John James (R‑MI‑10); Senate version by Sen. Mike Lee (R‑UT) with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D‑CT) 
    Requires: App store operators verify ages and obtain parental consent before minors download apps or make in‑app purchases; federal preemption and FTC enforcement

Asooka 9 days ago

Now go and find how much opposition there was to such laws when the Democrats were in power. Spoiler: it's negative. Whenever Democrats inherit a law like that from Republicans they expand its scope with giddy abandon as the media and their "vote blue no matter who" followers stand by and clap.
My thesis isn't that Democrats write those bills, my thesis is that there is never effective citizen resistance against government overreach when Democrats are in power. People can only be free when they are fighting the government and people only fight Republican governments, ergo we must vote Republican to keep the fight going. Both sides are our enemy, but one side enjoys a much larger cult following that will never attack it.