Letters

We have a major censorship and free speech issue on our hands that will set a horrible precedent toward the infringement of everyday people’s lives, both nationally and in New York State.

On the federal level, the “Kids Online Safety Act” moved through the Senate but rightfully died in the House. Though this bill holds the fear-mongering motive of “protecting our children,” what this bill really does is give more power to governments to criminalize and suppress online speech, at their discretion and political bias.

KOSA would allow the government to pressure social media platforms to erase content that could be deemed “inappropriate” for minors. The problem is: There is no consensus on what is inappropriate for minors. It also harms the privacy rights of youth, especially LGBTQ+ youth, from seeking crucial resources they need — everything from trauma-informed suicide prevention resources, to simply seeking a sense of community.

On top of this, Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed into law the “SAFE for Kids Act,” which holds the same fear-mongering intent to restrict the amount and repetitiveness of certain social media content, at the discretion of the politics of the government. This is not the protection of children. This is censorship and manipulation that affects all of us, youth and adults.

Additionally, Governor Hochul recently started her school tour in favor of banning student cellphones from schools. This is the intentional quelling of youth activism in the attempt to disrupt student communication among each other, and with their families, and the suppression of student ability to record evidence of school occurrences they may feel they need to do for their own safety.

Serving the mental and emotional needs of New York State’s students, and students across the country, should not entail the warping and restriction of how students gain access to information on current issues. Dozens of civil rights groups agree that measures like these are extremely harmful.

We are better than authoritarianism.

Max Micallef

Schenectady, New York

Micallef is a former resident of Sag Harbor — Ed.