Dear Supporter,
It shouldn't be against the law to provide an encrypted app.
But if the STOP CSAM Act (S.1829) passes, law enforcement could bring criminal charges for offering encryption, because it could "facilitate" the sharing of illegal child abuse material (CSAM)—even if there's no evidence that a platform or service intended to do so. It would also empower private lawsuits against encrypted services for “hosting or storing” this material even if the provider had no way of knowing or stopping it from being shared.
Encryption protects all of us. Helping to spread CSAM is already illegal. But S.1829 will harm everyone, including the young people it's meant to protect.
The STOP CSAM Act would also put free speech at risk.
STOP CSAM would create a carveout in Section 230, the law that protects our online speech, exposing platforms to civil lawsuits for merely hosting a platform where part of the illegal conduct occurred. This carveout is similar to the disastrous SESTA-FOSTA law, which passed in 2018, and immediately resulted in companies removing online content and spaces for discussion in order to protect themselves from potential liability.
The Senate Judiciary Committee just voted unanimously to move STOP CSAM forward. We need to show serious opposition to this dangerous bill today to protect encryption and free speech.
Thank you for helping us stand up for online rights.
