I just this morning heard about this bill via the Cyber Security podcast I listen to. And you all know I don’t usually do stuff like this.

This is disguised as an anti child pornography / abuse bill. And while these are excellent aims, there is no doubt by reading the bill (which I actually did - highly unusual for me) that the child pornography aspect is a thin veneer for much more far reaching powers.

But in this case, I sincerely urge you to forward this link to your friends and urge them to speak out against this bill.

The issue:

Members of Congress have mounted a major threat to your freedom of speech and security online. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) recently introduced a bill that would undermine key protections for Internet speech in U.S. law. It would also expose providers of the private messaging services we all rely on to serious legal risk, potentially forcing them to undermine their tools’ security. [SUCH AS THE SIGNAL MESSAGING application]

The so-called EARN IT Act (S. 3398) is anti-speech, anti-security, anti-innovation, and unnecessary. Let’s tell Congress to reject it.

You can check here on the EFF for a stream lined way to contact your representatives. And also to see more details about the bill.

https://act.eff.org/action/protect-our-speech-and-security-online-reject-the-graham-blumenthal-bill

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/earn-it-bill-governments-not-so-secret-plan-scan-every-message-online

The actual bill from Congress:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/3398/text

The key points here are that there is little if any definition of ‘best practices’ and the Commission is to be headed by William Barr who is rabidly against private citizens having access to encryption that government cannot back door.

I hope this concerns you as much as it did me when I read it.

Thank you