Policy Education

LGBT Tech supports the just-introduced Extend the TikTok Deadline Act, which delays the TikTok ban deadline by 270 days to allow Congress a full and meaningful discussion about the impact of the ban. This legislation reflects a more thoughtful approach to addressing concerns around security and privacy without cutting off the millions of LGBTQ+ users, viewers, and creators who have found community and connection on TikTok.

We urge Congress and the Biden administration to support this extension, and we commend Senators Markey, Wyden, Booker, and Representative Khanna for listening to the voices of marginalized groups and for their leadership in this effort.

LGBT Tech has joined an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to strike down the impending TikTok ban, which threatens free speech and LGBTQ+ access to vital digital spaces. Meaningful regulation must address the entire digital ecosystem—not unfairly target one platform while jeopardizing marginalized communities. Read our full statement.

As Congress works to tackle the complicated issue of protecting youth online, LGBT Tech continues to urge lawmakers to avoid the risks and harms currently present in the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).

We shared these concerns in this letter to top Congressional offices this week, signed by 28 LGBTQ+ organizations and advocacy groups from across the United States.

This is a continuation of Netchoice’s challenge against Mississippi’s HB 1126 which mandates age verification and parental consent to access social media and other content online, and that requires websites to “prevent or mitigate” minors’ access to vague overbroad categories of protected speech.

LGBT Tech, a diverse team of experts from multiple backgrounds that belong to the LGBTQ+ community, submits these comments with the goal of providing guidance on how to protect the best interests of children through the work of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC). There are many situations where the data processing of children and adolescents requires greater attention. Canadian policymakers must strike the right balance between privacy, online safety and the preservation of vital online resources that are essential for fostering an inclusive digital space and empowering, rather than endangering, the well-being of Canadian youth.

LGBT Tech joins 101 organizations respectfully urging the Biden Administration to support increased funding for global LGBTQI+ rights programs at the State Department’s Global Equality Fund to $40 million and USAID’s Inclusive Development Hub’s Protection of LGBTQI+ Persons to $40 million in the President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026.

LGBT Tech submitted comments supporting youth safety in Brazil’s proceeding where the Brazilian government is seeking input on age-verification and child privacy laws.

LGBT Tech is dedicated to advancing youth safety worldwide while recognizing the essential balance between safeguarding LGBTQ+ youth and respecting their autonomy and privacy. We are committed to creating an environment where young individuals can confidently explore and express their identities within a framework that values both security and personal freedom.

End-to-end encryption plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety, security and privacy of millions in Australia. However, the statutory review of the Australian Online Safety Act erroneously characterizes end-to-end encryption as an obstacle to online safety and law enforcement, instead of recognizing that it is essential for online security and weakening it reduces safety for all.

As advocates for the vital digital rights and well-being of the LGBTQ+ community, including the millions who live in California, we write to respectfully express our deep concerns with the content and potential consequences of AB 3172, and to outline the reasons why we must oppose the bill.
While we understand and agree with the author’s desire to establish protections and safeguards for youth online, we believe that fatal flaws in AB 3172 open the door to dangerous over-moderation and could severely impact the rights and access of online users, particularly those in the LGBTQ+ community.

LGBT Tech has just filed comments with the FCC highlighting the critical role of broadband access for the LGBTQ+ community. Our filing addresses how connectivity is a lifeline for marginalized individuals.

Amid rising concerns about digital equity and inclusion, this research underscores the critical need for ensuring robust digital access and safe online spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals. The research, titled “ctrl-alt+lgbt,” illustrates the profound impact of digital connectivity on the LGBTQ+ community’s daily life, communication, health, education, and employment.

LGBT Tech joins coalition in opposing sunset Section 230 of the Communications Act. They believe doing so will jeopardize access to valuable resources online, harming vulnerable communities and guaranteeing round after round of culture war brinkmanship.

In a letter to Senate leaders, the groups voiced concerns that the legislation would give enormous powers to state attorneys general with a history of radical anti-LGBTQ policymaking, ultimately eliminating access to resources and communities for vulnerable Americans.

On behalf of the consumer protection, economic justice, and civil rights groups herein, we strongly urge you to oppose SB 1076, authored by Senator Wilk. This bill attempts to undermine and weaken the California Delete Act (SB 362), passed in 2023 to empower Californians to protect their personal information from data brokers with an updated data broker registry and a one-click “delete” button to remove their information from every registered data broker.

Our opposition to this bill, in its present state, arises from the undefined age verification requirements imposed on social media platforms, its concerning parental control provisions and ambiguous criteria for “sexual content,” and the bill’s infringement on First Amendment rights – which doom it to a protracted and unwinnable legal battle, if passed. While we appreciate the amendments that have been oered, they fail to address the fundamental challenges of this bill, nor do they alleviate our apprehensions about its repercussions.

LGBT Tech urges lawmakers to conduct a thorough review and revision of S.B. 158 to mitigate these concerns, and has sent a letter outlining these concerns to the Colorado Senate Committee for Business, Labor, & Technology, the offices of the Colorado Governor and Attorney General, and members of the Colorado LGBTQ+ Caucus.

We believe that all people—including LGBTQI+ people—deserve equitable, meaningful access to services, programs, and employment funded by American foreign assistance no matter where they may be.

In the fight to ensure that marginalized individuals and the content they rely on are protected from undue censorship online, LGBT Tech has partnered with a coalition of civil organizations in filing an amicus brief in NetChoice v. Bonita

A coalition led by Chamber of Progress sends letter opposing SB 454, a different Florida bill that would require social media companies to prevent youth access to content related to sexual exploitation and give parents more control over teens’ accounts.

Garden State Equality and Planned Parenthood Action Fund of NJ today urged the State Legislature to reject a bill that would impose highly restrictive regulations on Internet access. The bill, A5750/S4215, would have New Jersey join the ranks of states like Utah and Arkansas by requiring age verification for anyone using social media.

LGBT Tech joins a coalition of a dozen tech and civil society groups submitting an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in NetChoice & CCIA v. Moody / Paxton, urging the Court to overturn Texas and Florida anti-content moderation laws. The brief argues that the Court should affirm platforms’ First Amendment right to curate content and highlights the impact of anti-content moderation laws on marginalized groups.

Last month, a group of Republicans led by Sen. Ted Cruz introduced the Eyes on the Board Act. The bill, which would strip away E-Rate funding from schools and libraries unless they block access to social media sites, represents an escalation in the ongoing assault on libraries and teens’ access to information across the country. For children in low-income communities who depend on subsidized internet access and
social media for education and connection, this bill amounts to a digital book ban.

LGBT Tech writes to support measures aimed at protecting the privacy, safety, and mental health of youth online, while urging that the efforts to do so preserve access to the online tools relied upon by LGBTQ+ youth to explore their identities, seek resources, and find community.

The Communications Equity and Diversity Council (CEDC) plays a crucial, nonpartisan role in shaping policies that foster equity and diversity in digital communication services and products across the United States. LGBT Tech joins MMTC and other organizations urging the House of Representatives to oppose the upcoming vote on bill HR-4664, which, following an amendment to the bill last week, proposes to defund the CEDC.