Back in December, they tried to get an even WORSE FISA extension bill through as part of the NDAA -- without even a vote on it -- and the pushback was strong enough that they abandoned the plan. In 2020 grassroots activism kept them from rauthorizing Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act . In 2015 grassroots activism kept them from doing a straight reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act. So there really is a track record of it being effective on this issue.

The key dynamic here is that both parties are split on the issue -- progressive Dems along with Libertarian and MAGA Republicans all favor reform. So even representatives in a district that one party always wins have to consider the politics: Republicans wanting to keep their MAGA cred against MAGA challengers, Democrats facing progressive challengers (or progressive Dems who need strong support from their base against centrist challengers). Plus there are a handful of centrist Dems in purple districts who might vote the right way if it can pick up some Republican votes.

Oh well, thanks for trying.

WTF indeed. But, thanks for emailing them -- they track how much email they get in each direction, and if there's enough they may rethink their position.

!bad_internet_bills@lemmy.sdf.org is tracking all the bad internet bills ... right now KOSA's where the most action is.

Thanks for making the effort! On bills like this, enough pressure can make a difference -- we stopped KOSA from passing last year, and have a good chance this year as well.

Great point about editing the letter -- and calling is even better!

In terms of whether or not we'll be able to change it ... last year the broad pushback succeeded in stopping KOSA, and there's certainly a decent chance to do the same this year. Who knows, but as you say, it's always worth trying!

That's disappointing ... but, enough pressure can get them to change their position (or, almost as good, ask Schumer not to bring the bill to the floor so that they don't have to take a politically costly vote). In the Senate Commerce Committee hearing, both Cantwell and Markey voted yes but said they had gotten a lot of calls and email from constituents who were concerned about the impact on LGBTQ+ teens so there was work to do before bringing the bill to the floor ... so the pressure is definitely getting noticed!

here's the list of cosponsors ... if they're there, then they're certainly supporting it. It's worth contacting them in any case; they'll often send you a form reply saying their position on the bill.

Agreed that the threat to free and clear access to the internet increases the chances of fascism coming to America. But there are plenty of Democrats who support these bills -- they all have bipartisan sponsorship. And more positively, he Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act -- a good privacy bill -- also has bipartisan sponsorship. So this is one of the rare issues that still cuts across party lines.