Progressive orgs are coming together to protect Section 230 and fight FOSTA
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More than 70 civil libertarian and progressive organizations, led by Fight for the Future, have sent a letter to Congress and the Biden/Harris administration asking them to protect Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act from ongoing conservative attacks which may find progressive support in the wake of the white nationalist-led failed coup attempt.
They’re also asking Congress to investigate the harm FOSTA has caused sex workers, sex educators, and everyday civilians who have been deplatformed since the 2018 law went into effect.
Protecting 230 is protecting the speech rights of the marginalized
“Gutting Section 230 would make it more difficult for web platforms to combat the type of dangerous rhetoric that led to the attack on the Capitol,” the letter states. Conservative attacks on 230, the latest successful one being FOSTA, work to deprive marginalized communities of access to online platforms. Conservatives want to force platforms to promote their voices.
But removing Section 230 would mean platforms would either have to extremely heavily moderate their content or not moderate at all, lest they be liable for what users post. Since few have the stomach to host 4chan, most platforms would opt for the latter, further restricting speech.
Online speech restrictions generally benefit the powerful at the expense of the marginalized. There’s no reason to expect removing Section 230 to work differently.
Threatening 230 “could threaten human rights and silence movements for social and racial justice that are needed now more than ever,” the letter states. “Section 230 is a foundational law for free expression and human rights. It makes it possible for websites and online forums to host the opinions, photos, videos, memes, and creativity of ordinary people, rather than just content backed by corporations.”
Signers include representative from groups addressing racial justice, LGBTQ+ issues, religious freedom, prison justice, free expression, immigration, HIV advocacy, sex work, child protection, gender justice, digital rights, and global human rights.
FOSTA needs to be repealed to protect free online and sex worker safety
The letter also urges lawmakers to pass the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act to investigate the harm done by FOSTA and hold hearings on the damage it’s done to human rights, freedom of expression, and civil liberties.
FOSTA is the last major successful erosion of Section 230, carving out an exemption in the law for “sex trafficking.” Newly liable, platforms purged vast swaths of sex-related content from their servers. Google and other cloud-storage sites started scanning users’ private files for sex-related content and deleting it without warning or permission. Reddit banned multiple subreddits. And Microsoft started scanning its services for adult content. Sex educators lost their content. Sex workers lost their lives.
Sites like Craigslist and Backpage used to help sex workers avoid police violence, identify and share lists of dangerous clients, and negotiate rates and boundaries online without pimps. In many cities, the launch of Craigslist Erotic Services coincided with a drop in all-female homicide by as much as 17 percent within a few years.
FOSTA forced sex workers back into street work and using pimps. Within a month of passing, thirteen sex workers were reported missing, and two took their own lives. According to a 2020 study on the law's impact, 99% of those who used the internet for sex work said FOSTA doesn't make them feel safer.
FOSTA doesn't even reduce sex trafficking. It actually makes it more difficult for law enforcement to find and rescue victims. The idea that FOSTA combats sex trafficking has also been strongly opposed by sex workers, advocates, sex trafficking survivors, and even the Department of Justice.
Letter signers include: Adult Industry Laborers & Artists Association, CARES - Community AIDS Resource and Educations Services, COYOTE RI- Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics, Dangerous Speech Project, Data for Black Lives, Defending Rights and Dissent, Erotic Service Providers Legal, Education and Research Project, Hacking//Hustling, Muslim Justice League, National Black Justice Coalition, National Center for Lesbian Rights, National Lawyers Guild, Public Knowledge, Prostasia Foundation, Sex Workers' Action Program of Hamilton, S.T.O.P. - The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, SWOP - Sex Workers Outreach Project, SWOP Behind Bars, SWOP Brooklyn, The Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center, Transgender Law Center, URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, Wikimedia Foundation, Win Without War, and the Woodhull Freedom Foundation.