Congress may be about to create the “bad internet”
The piece warns that a cluster of proposals in Congress, critics call them the Bad Internet Bills, could remake everyday internet use in ways that weaken privacy for everyone, not just children. It says the bills are pitched under different goals, like stopping drug trafficking or protecting minors, but they share a common effect: pushing services and platforms toward more surveillance, more identity checks, and more content control.
It highlights measures that would expand age verification on sites deemed harmful to minors, which civil liberties advocates argue would end anonymous browsing and require many users to prove who they are to access lawful content. The article also points to proposals that could pressure or effectively eliminate end to end encryption by forcing providers to report certain offenses or to scan communications, which groups like the ACLU argue would turn private messaging into a mass surveillance system.
Another major concern is renewed interest in changing Section 230 protections, which the story frames as a shift that could make platforms legally responsible for user posts. It argues that this would likely crush smaller services and entrench the largest incumbents. The article uses Kids Online Safety Act proposals as an example of how state officials could become de facto internet censors, with knock on effects for access to information on topics that are politically contested.
