Sen. Kim (D) has introduced age-verification bill that's far more privacy preserving. No facial scans or IDs, everything happens on-device. Interesting to note that Sen. Lummis (R), a co-sponsor, suggests that she's looking for AV alternatives that don't require giving up privacy.

Lawmakers Introduce Digital Age Assurance Act in U.S. Senate AVN

A new proposal before the U.S. Senate, now sporting bipartisan support, could invite a national digital assurance standard for age-gating minors under 18 years old.

avn.com

@cantwell.senate.gov If you need clear talking points about how KOSA, SCREEN, etc are a lot less about protecting children, and a lot more about creating a bigger hammer to punish LGBT folks for existing, I'm pretty sure @aclu.org and @eff.org have written a few.

A vote to confirm Todd Blanche is a vote “so that the Dobbs decision becomes permanent in every single state.” Those were his own words to anti-abortion extremists. Senators who vote for Blanche are voting for an Attorney General who will attack abortion rights in EVERY state.

Blanche assures anti-abortion supporters that Dobbs will be ‘permanent in every single state’

The acting attorney general made the remarks during a private call with faith leaders.

politico.com

for… *checks notes* …existing.

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

I mean not to sound like a broken record but it's almost as if this wasn't about protecting children as much as punishing the sex industry.

What's more nefarious than age-verification? The chilling effect on platforms. The threat of prosecution is likely enough to get a lot of retailers to end sales of politically "harmful" categories entirely. No more fantasy, no more sex education, no more LGBTQ+ resources. That's the real goal.

@cantwell.senate.gov , you're the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee. I'm one of your constituents. I don't see any statement about this from you. How are you planning to vote on the SCREEN act?

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

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.

"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

Just a reminder that your local city council is absolutely allowed to take a position on any initiative that is on the ballot.

Gillian Branstetter@gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 2d ago

An initiative on the ballot in Washington state in November would require all athletes seeking to play girl's sports from kindergarten to high school to undergo "genetic screening, a testosterone-levels test, or an examination of their reproductive anatomy" before they can play

This is amazing! 🦝 🚌

AMR - Alexis Mercedes Rinck@alexis4seattle.bsky.social · 2d ago

Good morning, Seattle! Here’s a little something for our transit riders to help with your morning commute:

Senate Commerce is hearing a massive online surveillance package — including KOSA and a national age-verification mandate — and it’s not being reported by any mainstream outlets. The sole mention is in the Washington Times , the house paper of the Unification Church.

Senate panel punting on broader AI legislation as it takes up kids online safety bills

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee is postponing plans to take up a series of AI bills until after the summer recess but is proceeding with a markup of kids online safety bills ...

washingtontimes.com

My educational YouTube channel about kink, safety, consent and the law was deleted without appeal. That’s what happens when platforms decide talking about sex is inherently suspect: we lose vocabulary, resources and places to find each other.

Cobweb-Covered Skeleton Gripping Senate Desk Expected To Seek 15th Term

According to a new ACLU report, 782 protesters, journalists, elected officials, clergy, and community observers; 214 children (including 32 U.S. citizens); and 155 U.S. citizens were documented as being detained, targeted, or subjected to misconduct by ICE agents.

The idea of “harmful speech” is nothing more than a pretext to government censorship. They started, of course, with pornography, then quickly moved into political dissent. Now they’re casting entire platforms and formats as dangerous — as if ideas were weapons or drugs.

ACLU@aclu.org · 3w ago

NEW: We filed a brief supporting a challenge to a Colorado law that would require social media platforms to display the state’s view that speech on social media is harmful. The government cannot decide that speech is harmful and force the rest of us to play along.

"Stop criticizing us or will keep murdering people" is just a jaw-dropping thing for a government official to say.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3w ago

Tom Homan: "It all go backs to the Dems ... there's still gonna be more bloodshed unless they shut their mouth and let ICE enforce the laws that they enacted."

Chuck Schumer likes to imagine how his politics play with an imaginary middle-class middle-aged couple on Long Island, but I don't think he realizes that couple is currently constructing a guillotine in their suburban backyard and stockpiling Molotov cocktails.

Mike (beep boop era)@latimeriidae.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Walking thru the “Ultra Normie” No Kings rally in my extremely rural, white town and there are Patagonia wearing moms carrying signs that say “DEAD PEDOPHILES DONT REOFFEND” and “ICE GETS THE WALL” and I hi fived an old guy with a sign that said MY DADDY FOUGHT NAZIS AND SO WILL I” this is wild

Ben Sheehan has created a list of every member of Congress — on the ballot in 2026 — who voted to fund ICE and CBP in the past year. It's sortable by name, state, office sought, and amount given. Please share. Follow Sheehan on threads at @bensheehan docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Congresspeople Who Funded ICE & CBP

docs.google.com

In a new report for Heritage Foundation, the same FCC General Counsel salivates over the prospect of banning not just porn but written texts, saying the Supreme Court's decision in FSC v. Paxton could signal a return to Comstock era prosecutions. www.heritage.org/government-r...

The lead attorney for the FCC calls for prosecution of Google — and much of the rest of the internet — for distribution of obscenity.

FCC General Counsel Channels Founding Fathers To Falsely Claim First Amendment Allows Banning Porn

Another senior Trump administration official is gleefully showing off his true colors: The current general counsel for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published an opinion column with t…

techdirt.com

People love age-verification because they think it just affects kids. But kids don't have IDs. And there are prohibitions on collecting their data. It's the adults, not the kids, who have to submit a face scan, upload a government ID or provide other personally identifying information.

Supreme Court allows Texas to enforce law requiring age verification and parental consent on apps

scotusblog.com

TIL Bill Watterson looks exactly like Calvin's dad?!

Comics in the Golden Age@comicsinthega.bsky.social · last mo.

Happy birthday to Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes! Born on July 5, 1958.

I've been less excited about fireworks the last few years because Reasons, but seeing the giant rainbow-looking shells over Lake Union just now was pretty happy-making. 🤩

I'm making it official: Microscope second edition is in the works. Crowdfunding in October. I swear on this stack of game books arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/52...

M2

I'm making it official: a new edition of Microscope is in the works. I've looked in my crystal ball, laid out my schedule, and set crowdfunding for October. If you've been following this blog, you ...

arsludi.lamemage.com

Is the pool the most important story? Of course not. Is it something low-info voters can wrap their heads around? Is it emblematic of how Trump handles everything (corruption, incompetence, lies)? Is Trump making it worse with his own implausible lies? IMHO, yes. So, yeah, worth discussing.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last mo.

Q: National Guard and police have been all over the Mall. How would these vandals have gotten so close to do something like that? TRUMP: ... ... ...

Where to Find the Colors Your Screen Can’t Display

Where to Find the Colors Your Screen Can’t Display - TidBITS

Ever wonder why a tropical lagoon or peacock feather seems impossibly vivid in person but disappointing in photos? Ryan Moulton explains the technical reasons and guides you to colors no screen can show.

tidbits.com

www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/ai-...

Thomas House of Dublin exhibiting the pro-human solidarity that all of us should demonstrate.

One of the most extraordinary trends in modern politics is when somebody says something like “Nazism and sexual violence are absolutely unacceptable in a civilized society” and immediately somebody like JD Vance responds “I deeply resent this direct attack on American conservatives.”

But this is where we are. In like 2 years, we’ve gone from “we just want to make porn sites block kids” to “yes, it’s totally reasonable to make people submit their IDs or do facial recognition before they can even use a computer or phone”

Elizabeth Nolan Brown@enbrown.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"Adults would ⁠still ⁠be able to take, ⁠share or view nude content through an age verification process” is just such a dystopian sentence reason.com/2026/06/17/c...