John,
A dangerous new bill could lead to widespread Internet censorship and decimate our online privacy.1
Sign the petition to tell Congress: “Protect free speech online! Encryption keeps us safe. Reject the dangerous EARN IT Act.”
Senator Lindsey Graham has partnered with Richard Blumenthal (D–CT) to create the EARN IT Act, a new bill that shamelessly uses the sensitive topic of child exploitation as a bargaining chip in the political battle over digital rights. If passed, the EARN IT Act would give the Attorney General unprecedented control over how big web platforms police free speech by tinkering with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. This means that if the current administration doesn’t like the way that tech companies moderate content, the government can threaten to shut down entire websites and apps.2
And just in case threatening online speech wasn’t bad enough, the EARN IT Act also threatens digital encryption. You see, Attorney General William Barr has made no secret that he wants tech companies to add digital backdoors into their services, allowing law enforcement and intelligence agencies access to every phone call we make and every text message we send.3 The EARN IT Act gives him the power to force companies like Apple and Facebook to break their encryption practices under penalty of crippling lawsuits and even criminal prosecution.
US law enforcement and intelligence agencies already routinely abuse their surveillance powers to spy on journalists and political activists, while lying to the public about the impact these Orwellian activities have fighting real crime.4,5,6 Expanding the government’s existing power will only put us all at greater risk of privacy and security violations while leaving criminals free to develop their own encrypted communications.7
This dangerous bill was just introduced and could pick up momentum fast. Click here to tell your lawmakers to stop the EARN IT act before it’s too late.
Regards,
Dayton at Fight for the Future
1. Politico: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-tech/2020/03/03/2020-democrats-fight-to-become-the-new-silicon-valley-favorite-785810
2. Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/corporations-are-working-with-the-trump-administration-to-control-online-speech/2020/02/14/4d3078c8-4e9d-11ea-bf44-f5043eb3918a_story.html
3. Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/barrs-encryption-push-is-decades-in-the-making-but-troubles-some-at-fbi-11579257002
4. The Intercept: https://theintercept.com/2018/09/17/journalists-fisa-court-spying/
5. The Hill: https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/civil-rights/461822-fbi-must-come-clean-on-targeting-racial-justice-activists
6. Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-repeatedly-overstated-encryption-threat-figures-to-congress-public/2018/05/22/5b68ae90-5dce-11e8-a4a4-c070ef53f315_story.html
7. CATO Institute: https://www.cato.org/blog/holding-230-hostage-sen-graham-demands-platforms-earn-it
Fight for the Future works to protect your rights in the digital age.
