Stop Killing the Internet
A global movement
Governments are walling off the open internet. We are a global movement opposing restrictions, and building a better internet.
The global fight
Coming soon Soon, hover any country to see the moves against its open internet, from age verification to chat control, and the organisations fighting back.
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Join the campaign
Stop Killing the Internet is a sister campaign of Stop Killing Games. In the UK, the campaign is supported by Gamer’s Voice Ltd, which acts as the UK chapter of Stop Killing Games. All data held will be done so under UK GDPR regulations. We will use the information you provide to send you campaign updates, calls to action, fundraising and related communications about our campaign. We use CleverReach to manage our mailing list and send emails. We will not sell your data or use it for unrelated marketing. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails.Privacy policy
Why this matters
For two decades, the problems of an entire generation have been ignored. The problems of the internet were left to rot. When the YouTuber who exposed predators on Roblox brought them to light, the response was not to go after the predators, but**to go after him.**
We know these problems. If a YouTuber can find them, why can’t a company with billions of dollars, armies of engineers, and full control over their platform?
> Do not claim to speak for children while ignoring them everywhere else.
Housing is through the roof. The job market is in the ground. Crises and wars are constant. Yet somehow, talking about young people, rather than with them, has become an acceptable standard.
In the UK, the timing is particularly concerning. With a by-election approaching, children’s protection is being used as a political weapon; a way to look tough, moral, and decisive. Meanwhile, the views of young people who say a ban would mean a loss of connection are ignored.
And this is no longer just one country. Canada is moving with its own new bill. The United States is trying to revive the same on the federal level. The European Union is pushing age verification across the bloc. Everywhere, the same pattern is appearing; children’s safety is invoked, but the people most affected are still not at the table.
And now, suddenly, governments are willing to threaten CEOs of some of the largest companies on the planet with arrest. Not to give users control over algorithms. Not to empower people. Not to address systems that affect adults and children alike.**No.**
Instead, the answer is curfews, time limits, and locking off access to YouTube, Twitch, parts of Discord, Reddit, and many more. And guess what **you will need ID to access?**
We have already seen where that road leads. Discord’s age-verification data was exposed after a third-party provider was compromised, with tens of thousands of government ID images reportedly put at risk. So, do not tell us this is just about safety. When you force people to hand over identity documents to access public life online, you create new targets, new risks, and new harms.
It does not stop there. **First, they ask for your ID.**Then, they ask to monitor the device in your pocket and your private messages.
That is something police can only do with due cause and a court order. This effectively inverts the presumption of innocence and**puts a policeman in your pocket.**
The internet has become a social space, a space of education, and a space of public debate. Like every town hall, it can sometimes get ugly. **But that would never justify shutting down the town hall.**
For two decades, experts, children, and parents alike have argued for solutions. People have exposed the problems, documented them, and pointed directly at the failures.
Yet still, Governments have failed to tackle the root causes, failed to adopt policies that protect rights, and failed to adopt a public health approach that looks at mental well-being holistically.
The answer does not have to be control. It does not have to be your data turned into currency.It can be so much more, so much better.
Together, we can create a real proposal. Solving a global problem with the global rights-respecting community.
For that, a public and accountable debate is necessary. And no place is better suited for that debate than the communities of the internet themselves.
We know where the dirt lies. We know which powerful organisations are lobbying for more control, killing the open internet. For two decades, we were left to fight these problems alone. Now, we have a chance to do something better; we have a chance to make the internet not smaller, not more controlled, but**more democratic than it has ever been.**
Add your voice
Sign up as an individual and you put a name to the resistance; sign your organisation up and you put weight behind it. It takes thirty seconds, and every name makes this movement harder to ignore.