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TikTok influencer in Montana after the ban was issued - AP23187638051023

AP Photo/Tommy Martino

Efforts to undermine First Amendment rights on the internet and to censor online content are a fundamental threat to the free press.

When lawmakers try to censor online speech or entire platforms, it harms the First Amendment rights on which journalists rely.

Most people get their news online, and the internet and social media are especially important for independent and citizen journalists who publish there. Anyone who cares about press freedom should also oppose attempts to undermine free speech online.

Email Congress to stop online censorship bills

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Edit this message so that it is unique to you: Dear Member of Congress, As your constituent, I urge you to VOTE NO on any bills that give the government power to censor online content, especially the Kids Online Safety Act, and on any bills mandating or pressuring app stores, apps, and websites to use age verification. While these bills claim to protect children, they would instead enable government censorship, restricting access to information for both kids and adults. Age verification requirements will result in online ID checks that force children and adults to share sensitive personal information, undermining online privacy and anonymous speech. As a supporter of a free press, I’m especially concerned these measures could silence news and whistleblowers by encouraging the removal of news content online and making anonymous posting harder. In addition, these measures risk making it harder for journalists and news outlets to reach audiences by undermining smaller, newer platforms on which journalists share their work. Because smaller and newer platforms will be less likely to be able to afford to comply with KOSA and other bills’ requirements, these bills will consolidate the power of larger social media platforms that often do not prioritize the sharing of news. Please stand up for free expression and a free press by voting NO on KOSA and similar bills. URLs are not allowed in this message.

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Featured Items

Facebook’s terms of service obstruct important journalistic research
Online Censorship•Article
By prohibiting automated collection of information, Facebook's terms of service are obstructing important digital and investigative journalism. In a letter, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University asks Facebook to modify its terms of service.

Published Aug. 7, 2018 Camille Fassett
A new law is already stifling online expression and hurting sex workers
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President Trump signed SESTA/FOSTA into law today. While it has been touted by lawmakers as a tool to crack down on sex trafficking, it will drastically expand online censorship and endanger the people it intends to protect.

Published April 11, 2018 Camille Fassett
Archiving the alternative press threatened by wealthy buyers
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Freedom of the Press Foundation is launching an online archives collection in partnership with Archive-It, a service developed by the Internet Archive to help organizations preserve online content. Our collection, focusing on news outlets we deem to be especially vulnerable to "billionaire problem," aims to preserve sites in their entirety before their archives can be taken down or manipulated.

Published Jan. 31, 2018 Parker Higgins
Protecting net neutrality is an important press freedom issue
Online Censorship•Article
The Federal Communications Commission released its proposal to kill net neutrality on Tuesday, which would end the restrictions on internet service providers (ISPs) that attempt to guarantee a free and open internet. Rolling back net neutrality has worrying and dangerous implications specifically for press freedom in a world in which …

Published Nov. 22, 2017 Camille Fassett
Introducing Secure The News, an automated tool tracking the adoption of HTTPS encryption across news websites
Encryption•Article
HTTPS protects reader privacy, security, and prevents censorship. We're tracking its adoption.

Published Dec. 15, 2016 Garrett Robinson Trevor Timm
Does Cyberspace Exist? Is It Free? Reflections, 20 years Later, on A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace
Online Censorship•Article
Twenty years ago tonight, I was at a staff party for the closing of the World Economic Forum, lured there by a coven of the contemporary geishas that staffed the Forum in those days, composed largely of doctoral students in Foreign Affairs at the University of Geneva. But I had …

Published Feb. 8, 2016 John Perry Barlow
When The News Reads You Back: Why Journalists Need to Stand Up for Reader Privacy
Surveillance•Article
When you are reading the news, it is reading you back. According to new research out of the University of Pennsylvania visiting news websites exposes you to more than twice as much tracking software as the rest of the web. Researchers Tim Libert and Victor Pickard used open-source software …

Published Nov. 16, 2015 Josh Stearns
It’s Time for a Real Debate on Reader Privacy
Surveillance•Article
Last week longtime local publisher Howard Owens, founder of the online news site the Batavian, launched a new publication covering Wyoming County in upstate New York. Buried in a parenthetical within his welcome message to readers was a fascinating promise: “We’ll also respect your privacy by not gathering personal data …

Published Sept. 22, 2014 Josh Stearns
Tor Challenge Inspires 1,635 Tor Relays
Encryption•Article
Good news for whistleblowers, journalists, and everyone who likes to browse the Internet with an added cloak of privacy: the Tor network got a little stronger. Tor—software that lets you mask your IP address—relies on an international network of committed volunteers to run relays to help mask traffic. And that …

Published Sept. 19, 2014 Rainey Reitman
Can't Run a Relay? Here Are Some Other Ways You Can Support the Tor Challenge
Encryption•Article
Today we’re helping to launch the Tor Challenge, a clarion call for people all over the world to support the Tor network in the most crucial way possible: by running relays. Relays are the fundamental building blocks of Tor; they are the nodes through which your connection is routed …

Published June 5, 2014 Kevin Gallagher