It’s Already Worse That You Know

“The internet is about to become a more dangerous place for queer people, sex workers and anyone who just wants to post a personal ad.”

Matt Baume is a writer, thinker, a YouTuber with more than 2M views, and one of best resources to “make sense of what’s happening with LGBT issues.”

Two and one-half weeks ago, we discussed the SESTA-FOSTA bill that was headed for a vote in Congress. It passed.

It was supposed to stop sex trafficking. In reality, it goes after sex workers of all kinds, porn lovers, and free speech.

Its effects are already affecting us. Matt Baume helped put it all in perspective in a freshly penned post appearing on Hornet.com.

Hey, what happened to the personals on Craigslist? And to Reddit’s SugarDaddy community? And to the furry dating site Pounced.org? All across the Internet, forums dedicated to sex and relationships just suddenly went dark. The culprit is Congress and a terrible bill called FOSTA (the “Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act”), which will do more than just shutter a few websites. It could also lead to increased violence against sex workers, with LGBTQ people disproportionately prone to attacks.

First, a little background on what FOSTA is: It’s a major shift in law that severely criminalizes any online act that assists sex workers in their work. A website operator could go to jail for up to 10 years if any user of the site promotes or facilitates prostitution — even if that website operator had no idea what was going on, and even if it happened before the bill was passed.

Proponents of the bill say it will help prevent human trafficking, but that’s just not true. The bill attacks all sex workers, not just traffickers. It’s like passing a bill that criminalizes drug dealing, but wording it so broadly that pharmacists can be sent to prison for doing their job as well.

And this isn’t likely to be the end of crackdowns on online behavior. Starting in May, Microsoft will update its terms of service so it can monitor your use of its services and ban you for using strong language — so, for example, Microsoft might investigate your conversations and ban you for simply typing something about sex. Or it might close your Xbox account if they hear you swear. Coming as close as it is to the vote on FOSTA, there’s been widespread speculation that this is a pre-emptive move to avoid running afoul of the law.

We already know the personal data – including texts and phone logs from Android users, for 50 million Facebook users was illegally acquired by Cambridge Analytica and weaponized during the 2016 campaign.

And it took a gay man to call them out it.

Does anyone want Microsoft deciding what words or conversations are deemed offensive?

What if a right-wing owned ISP’s start doing the same or worried other service providers follow suit out of fear?

Is anyone who curses or likes to talk about sex going to lose their Skype accounts?

As Matt concludes in his post,

“FOSTA isn’t law yet, as it’s just passed the Senate. But Donald Trump is expected to sign it, which means the internet is about to become a more dangerous place for queer people, sex workers and anyone who just wants to post a personal ad.”

More than ever, it’s time to vote out the bums who supported this legislation and pay attention to what’s happening as social media and web companies try to comply — at the expense of free speech. Think it couldn’t happen?

Think again.

Watch this blog.