The U.S. Senate is advancing legislation that creates a threat to strong encryption, the bedrock of digital security.
While the senators championing the bill, which theyve named the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act (EARN IT Act), may have good intentions, they are seriously misguided about the impact of their proposal.
Encryption ensures our information, from our sensitive financial and medical details to emails and text messages, is protected. But the EARN IT Act will create a broad path for government actors to seriously undermine strong encryption, putting our information at risk. Thats why Mozilla is joining dozens of other internet health and civil society organizations in calling on the U.S. Congress to vote no on the EARN IT Act.
Under the guise of curbing online child sexual abuse material (CSAM), the bill threatens online security as well as the platforms that facilitate user generated content. It asks online platforms to make the choice between potentially onerous best practices which will be determined by an unelected commission headed by Attorney General William Barr and seem likely to obstruct strong encryption or giving up the legal protections that have made the internet a vibrant environment for creators.
Advocates for human rights, free speech and digital privacy and security all agree that this legislation is a seriously misguided attempt to address a real problem. We need to make sure that Congress sees that the EARN IT Act is the wrong solution and votes against the bill.
In addition to a sneak attack on encryption, the EARN IT Act also threatens Section 230, the law that protects platforms from certain kinds of liability for content posted by their users.
Since 1996, Section 230 has encouraged internet growth by keeping the threat of legal action at bay. But the EARN IT Act would create an unelected commission, dominated by law enforcement and led by Attorney General Barr, to write ill-defined best practices for online platforms and services that would be fast-tracked into law. While reforms to the current liability regime may be worth considering, handing a blank check to the Attorney General is not the right approach to those reforms.
Supporters of the EARN IT Act have refused to add protection for encryption in the text of the proposal, or to place it outside the scope of the commissions best practices, making it clear that the bill is actually just a sneaky way to pursue a misguided war against encryption. Whats more, the commission would be led by Attorney General Barr, who has a history of conducting illegal mass surveillance and who has made it clear that he wants a government key to break encryption, giving him even more leverage to pressure platforms to break encryption.
We all agree that child exploitation is horrific, but the EARN IT Act is a risky proposition that would do more harm than good to the open internet.
Sign the petition to Congress opposing this veiled attack on encryption.
