Baron Char🕯️🐅

@baronchar.bsky.social

Fluffy Cosmic entity from beyond, here to provide entertainment from the darkness. He/him | #Artist | #Editor | #VTuber VGen: https://vgen.co/BaronChar Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/baron_char SFW, but 🔞 only! PFP by: @miguelthewerewolf.bsky.social

To be clear, the Senate version of KOSA passed today is completely different than the House version that passed earlier this year, making it very unlikely to become law. The Senate knows this yet they are committing to the farce of acting on kids safety.

The image features a vibrant red background with a quotation prominently displayed in white and bold black text. The quote is attributed to Sarah Philips, the Campaign Director for "Fight for the Future." The text discusses the inadequacies of Congress in regulating Big Tech companies and emphasizes the need for meaningful action rather than superficial proposals. Below the quote, there is a rounded photograph of Sarah Philips, who has long, dark hair and is smiling, wearing a black shirt. The design includes playful elements such as a heart icon and a stylized signature underneath the photograph, adding an engaging and impactful look to the overall message about political accountability.

If SCREEN were to pass, you'd be required to scan your face and upload an ID to access this site because it allows "harmful" material. This affects you even if you don't care about sex work or porn.

404 Media@404media.co · yesterday

Mike Lee's SCREEN Act, which heads to Senate Commerce Committee for markup on Wednesday, would expand age verification requirements to a nearly limitless scope of websites, and is supported by the architects of Project 2025.

The SCREEN Act is not just another age-verification bill — it goes much further than anything passed at the state-level or in other countries. 1. The bill doesn't just target porn sites. It goes after *any* site that allows material "harmful" to minors. You'd have to scan your face to use Google.

(3) COVERED PLATFORM.— The term "covered platform" -
(A) means an entity -
(i) that is an interactive computer service;
(ii) that-
(I) is engaged in interstate or foreign commerce;
or
(Il) purposefully avails itself of the United States
market or a portion thereof; and
(iïi) for which it is in the regular course of the trade or
business of the entity to create, host, or make available content that meets the definition of harmful to minors under paragraph (4) and that is provided by the entity, a user, or other intration conten provider, with

And for the really bad news? They've put a target on VPNs. Sites are required to identify (and age-verify) any US citizen, regardless of whether they're using a VPN. In fact, the default is to get the ID and biometrics of EVERYONE unless you can somehow prove their not a US citizen.

Mike Stabile@mikestabile.bsky.social · 2d ago

"VPNs are a privacy and security tool used by millions of internet users every day, and their use should not be treated as suspect. It is particularly galling that the SCREEN Act forces users who intentionally take steps to protect their privacy to identify themselves."

"VPNs are a privacy and security tool used by millions of internet users every day, and their use should not be treated as suspect. It is particularly galling that the SCREEN Act forces users who intentionally take steps to protect their privacy to identify themselves."

The SCREEN Act Threatens Privacy Far Beyond Adult Websites

The Senate Commerce Committee is set to consider S. 737, the SCREEN Act, a sweeping age-verification bill that would require online services to verify users’ ages before they can access any sexually e...

eff.org

What can you do? CALL. WRITE. SCREAM. The bill is up for a vote THIS WEDNESDAY. Call your Senator. Dem. Republican. Whomever. Right now, it's a solid R bill, but they're looking for Dems to take it across the finish line. Let them know how badly it stinks. www.defendonlineprivacy.com/screen/

Defend Online Privacy: Stop the SCREEN Act!

The Senate Commerce Committee will vote on the SCREEN Act on August 5. ACT NOW to stop it!

defendonlineprivacy.com

This is like 90% what the Nazis did with "degenerate art." Except they're wording it as "accountability" and denying student loans (which already restricts who can and cannot achieve higher education)

The New Republic@newrepublic.com · 3d ago

President Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans. Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music will be hit the hardest. trib.al/aaAEu6v

It will be worse than this! Most websites will be forced to ask you to send your ID to a third party surveillance service, adding a credit card won't be enough for most. Bluesky asks for your *social security number* if you live in Texas now, due to this shit. Call in, and kill it.

Eromancer@eromancer.bsky.social · 3d ago

This will be the US if the SCREEN Act passes. Call your Senators before August 5 and tell them that you oppose the SCREEN Act, KOSA, and the KIDS Act. Use the official lookup tool at www.senate.gov/senators/sen... to find yours by state.

people could respond to this framing around reporting deaths—"had significant underlying health conditions"—with more confidence if we weren't also living through a pandemic in which we have been told only people who have "underlying health issues" are "vulnerable" or "at risk"

The New York Times@nytimes.com · 2d ago

Breaking News: Two deaths in Michigan have been linked to cyclospora. Both people who had the parasite also had underlying health issues.

So, I'm going to do a no-mic art stream around 3:30 EST today, but I'm also thinking of streaming again later tonight if I have the spoons for it. I might play some horror games, might have some friends along. I'll be playing it by ear.

I am TERRIFIED to call people and I call my reps. Even just a simple 'I need you to appeal the KOSA act/Online Safety act or I'm voting against you' is enough of a sentence. it gets them scared, it gets them to act. This isn't just about 'porn', even tame stuff is targeted now. You might be next.

Suzanne ✨🌑@tendermiasma.com · 4d ago

The TOS being so strict that they control you offsite is the problem; sites like Patreon and Kofi have offsite clauses too. The social criminalization of the suggestion that somewhere you might be doing nsfw is a problem. It's branding a person as obscene and we need consumers to stand up for us

The TOS being so strict that they control you offsite is the problem; sites like Patreon and Kofi have offsite clauses too. The social criminalization of the suggestion that somewhere you might be doing nsfw is a problem. It's branding a person as obscene and we need consumers to stand up for us

Sam Cole@samleecole.bsky.social · 5d ago

a bunch of popular ASMR artists lost their channels forever this week, after YouTube cited them for violating terms against "sexually gratifying" content: www.404media.co/youtube-asmr...