It seems a little bit aggrandizing to imply that if only furries had better heeded your article about why furry websites should allow legal cartoon child pornography and anti-semitic manifestos or else society will collapse, then the U.S. Senate wouldn't have passed this bill that has to my understanding been in the works since the previous U.S. Presidency. Particularly considering (and this is obviously marred by selection bias) I have seen nothing but criticism for it from the furry fandom, pre-dating it even affecting a furry website.
But I do agree that the bill is harmful, and not just because it makes it legally dangerous for website hosts, but because it is literally dangerous for the very people it's designed to protect.
Some background into this bill: According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in 75% of cases where they receive reports of child sex trafficking from the general public, the personals website Backpage.com is involved. Obviously, any such service can be abused, but a PSI report claimed that Backpage was deliberately concealing evidence of child sex trafficking, and making it more difficult for authorities to spot, by removing words like "young" or "little girl", but publishing the rest of the ad. In 2015, the PSI subpoenaed the website, and they ignored it, citing the First Amendment, leading to the Senate finding the website in contempt of Congress.
It seems the lawmakers saw an obstacle into resolving a case, and are overlooking the restriction of freedoms and the other consequences from this method of overcoming the obstacle, which I fear could be dire. Backpage shut down its adult content section, and ads for sex with children moved into the dating section instead. And if they go elsewhere entirely, investigators will have to catch them scattered on the winds instead.
The bill also endangers non-trafficked people who sell sex. If they no longer have access to online resources, they have to resort to more dangerous work soliciting on the street. Their ability to share information (such as bad or dangerous customers) could also be shuttered.
It seems a little bit aggrandizing to imply that if only furries had better heeded your article about why furry websites should allow legal cartoon child pornography and anti-semitic manifestos or else society will collapse, then the U.S. Senate wouldn't have passed this bill that has to my understanding been in the works since the previous U.S. Presidency. Particularly considering (and this is obviously marred by selection bias) I have seen nothing but criticism for it from the furry fandom, pre-dating it even affecting a furry website.
But I do agree that the bill is harmful, and not just because it makes it legally dangerous for website hosts, but because it is literally dangerous for the very people it's designed to protect.
Some background into this bill: According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in 75% of cases where they receive reports of child sex trafficking from the general public, the personals website Backpage.com is involved. Obviously, any such service can be abused, but a PSI report claimed that Backpage was deliberately concealing evidence of child sex trafficking, and making it more difficult for authorities to spot, by removing words like "young" or "little girl", but publishing the rest of the ad. In 2015, the PSI subpoenaed the website, and they ignored it, citing the First Amendment, leading to the Senate finding the website in contempt of Congress.
It seems the lawmakers saw an obstacle into resolving a case, and are overlooking the restriction of freedoms and the other consequences from this method of overcoming the obstacle, which I fear could be dire. Backpage shut down its adult content section, and ads for sex with children moved into the dating section instead. And if they go elsewhere entirely, investigators will have to catch them scattered on the winds instead.
The bill also endangers non-trafficked people who sell sex. If they no longer have access to online resources, they have to resort to more dangerous work soliciting on the street. Their ability to share information (such as bad or dangerous customers) could also be shuttered.