Stop the EARN IT Act!

The EARN IT Act is back, and more dangerous than ever. The bill is an outright attack on our right to communicate privately via encryption. If passed, it will force the digital services that we rely on every day to crack open our direct messages and make the Internet less safe for EVERYONE.

There’s no safe way to break online private messaging. If enough of us speak out NOW, we can stop this out of control legislation from becoming law in America.

Message your representatives in Congress now and tell them to say ‘NO’ to the EARN IT Act!

EARN IT will damage the Internet by: 

… Changing the landscape as we know it against our freedom of expression

The EARN IT Act is proposing that online platforms must “earn” the protection of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Here’s the thing: this critical section is core to our online freedom of expression, and has allowed the Internet to flourish by encouraging users to generate their own content.1 Without Section 230, we wouldn’t have user driven websites like Wikipedia or Craigslist – and would have much less space to express ourselves on many online services. 

… Breaking encryption and weakening security 

It’s as true today as it’s ever been: there’s no way to break encryption for only the ‘good guys’. By forcing online platforms to “earn” their Section 230 protections, experts are pointing out EARN IT will make the Internet less safe and secure for everyone.2 Without strong built-in end-to-end encryption, our sensitive data will be available to hackers and authoritarian governments, not just law enforcement. 

… Providing an excuse for criminal defendants and putting children at greater risk

The EARN IT Act’s sponsors are falsely saying that the bill is needed to protect children, but federal laws already make child sexual abuse material highly illegal. In fact, experts are concerned that the bill will make it harder to successfully prosecute people found in possession of child sexual abuse material, and make children more vulnerable to predators by exposing more of their sensitive personal information.3,4,5

We must say no to this dangerous bill. Message your representatives in Congress and tell them to reject the EARN IT Act!

Sources

  1. Section 230: The most important law protecting Internet speech - EFF
  2. Most cyber pros give thumbs down to the EARN IT Act - The Washington Post
  3. Senate’s new EARN IT Bill will make child exploitation problem worse, not better, and still attacks encryption - Tech Dirt 
  4. Political attacks on encryption will make children less safe - Senator Ron Wyden
  5. The EARN IT Act would give criminal defendants a get-out-jail-free card - Slate

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Computer vector created by macrovector at freepik modified by OpenMedia.

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Press: Matt Hatfield | Phone: +1 (888) 441-2640 ext. 0  | [email protected]