Say "No" to the EARN IT Act

The EARN IT Act will give government officials like Attorney General William Barr the power to compel online service providers to break encryption or be exposed to potentially crushing legal liability. The bill would require online platforms to compel with to-be-determined "best practices" in order to preserve certain protections from criminal and civil liability for user-generated content under Section 230. This has First and Fourth Amendment problems. The bill's broad categories of "best practices" for online service providers amount to an impermissible regulation of editorial activity protected by the 1st Amendment. The bill also violates the 4th Amendment by turning online platforms into government actors that search users' accounts without a warrant based on probable cause. As an information security professional, I have serious concerns about weakening encryption. There is no way to create a backdoor to encryption without creating a backdoor to cybercriminals. Industry experts have said time and time again, this cannot be done securely. It will only be a matter of time when the backdoor is leaked and the system is compromised. I certainly don't trust this administration to keep this a secret. Please vote "NO" on the EARN IT Act because it is a threat to national security and to the rights of Americans.

First sent on October 8, 2020 by Andy