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Fan fiction writers rally fandoms against KOSA, the bill purporting to protect kids online.
This week, they’re writing letters to their senators, expressing their concerns that the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) could change the internet forever. Despite its appealing name, KOSA has been met with a flood of opposition from a variety of internet communities, from fandom Tumblr to digital privacy watchdogs. In particular, detractors worry that the bill could restrict queer kids’ access to affirming online resources, or make it easier for local governments to surveil abortion seekers.
“I don’t want to have to be forced to attach everything I do online to my real life identity,” said@omarsbigsister, an omegaverse fan fiction writer who has used her platform of 100,000 TikTok followers to advocate against the bill. Drake George, who goes live on TikTok to read fluffy bedtime anime fan fiction to their 123,000 followers, says that fandom communities tend to appeal to queer teens, since they can offer a form of escapism. George says that fandom communities became more concerned about bills like KOSA in early July, when the beloved fan fiction nonprofit Archive of Our Own (AO3) went offline due to DDoS attacks from a hacker group.
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