Urgent new developments that further threaten the freedom of expression and access to information online have come to our attention.

YouTube has once again tightened its grip on creators and viewers alike. Their newest wave of policy changes includes:

• Stricter content moderation that now targets even fictional depictions and mature discussions.
• Expanded age verification measures that require users to upload government-issued IDs to access certain content.
• Automated shadowbanning and demonetization for creators who challenge mainstream narratives, explore sexuality in art or culture, or address “sensitive” political issues.

These changes aren't about protecting users. They’re about centralized control, silencing dissent, and turning the open web into a sanitized, corporate-controlled echo chamber.

Governments and platforms are increasingly pushing for age verification laws that require you to hand over personal documents just to view videos or read articles. These tactics disproportionately impact marginalized groups, queer communities, artists, and educators — all under the false promise of “safety.”

Let’s be clear: Requiring an ID to access content is not protection — IT'S SURVEILLANCE!

Representatives from Illinois recently made public statements calling for sweeping censorship across the internet, citing "moral decay" and “protecting children” as justifications. This rhetoric mirrors authoritarian censorship — invoking religious extremism and moral panic to justify stripping away individual rights. This is supposed to be the land of the free, the United States of America, not Gilead from The Handmaid's Tale.

The Illinois Representative's stance aligns disturbingly well with the agendas of platforms like YouTube, and so-called "activists" who seek to control what we see, say, and create online.

Why does this matter? 

This isn’t just about YouTube. It’s about a coordinated effort by tech giants and lawmakers to:

• Regulate art, storytelling, and critical discussion.
• Force users to choose between privacy and access.
• Censor marginalized voices, indie creators, and controversial ideas.
• Create a future where freedom of expression is only allowed when it aligns with corporate or ideological values.

What can you do?

• Sign this petition, keep spreading the word widely - Awareness is power.
• Tell YouTube that censorship is wrong and the very idea of Age Verification is wrong.
• Tag your representatives - Send them an email or call them. Do the same thing that others did with Visa and MasterCard by calling the Representatives from Illinois.
• Support creators and platforms that fight for open expression.
• Reject the narrative that censorship = safety. It doesn’t. The narrative they're fighting to protect is failing.

The internet was built to be open, diverse, and free — not a digital police state.

WE ARE NOT BACKING DOWN!