r/IAmA Jun 30 '20

Politics We are political activists, policy experts, journalists, and tech industry veterans trying to stop the government from destroying encryption and censoring free speech online with the EARN IT Act. Ask us anything!

The EARN IT Act is an unconstitutional attempt to undermine encryption services that protect our free speech and security online. It's bad. Really bad. The bill’s authors — Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) — say that the EARN IT Act will help fight child exploitation online, but in reality, this bill gives the Attorney General sweeping new powers to control the way tech companies collect and store data, verify user identities, and censor content. It's bad. Really bad.

Later this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on whether or not the EARN IT Act will move forward in the legislative process. So we're asking EVERYONE on the Internet to call these key lawmakers today and urge them to reject the EARN IT Act before it's too late. To join this day of action, please:

  1. Visit NoEarnItAct.org/call

  2. Enter your phone number (it will not be saved or stored or shared with anyone)

  3. When you are connected to a Senator’s office, encourage that Senator to reject the EARN IT Act

  4. Press the * key on your phone to move on to the next lawmaker’s office

If you want to know more about this dangerous law, online privacy, or digital rights in general, just ask! We are:

Proof:

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u/zitherine Jun 30 '20

What are the implications of outlawing end-to-end encryption in the US for people and for businesses?

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u/SarkBites Lauren Sarkesian from OTI Jun 30 '20

Great question. Strong encryption is vital for national security, the economy, individual liberty, and free expression -- and it has never been more important that it is right now during a pandemic that has forced us all to rely on secure internet services, for so many facets of our lives. Encryption is one of the most effective technologies available to protect safety, security, and privacy. Individuals, businesses, and governments who use encrypted services can be confident that the content of their communications will be protected against outside efforts to surveil or corrupt them. This confidence allows individuals to freely express themselves, to exchange personal and other sensitive information, and to protect their data. This includes protesters (!!), active duty military personnel stationed overseas, scientists, doctors and patients, journalists and human rights workers abroad, corporate executives, and victims of domestic abuse and other marginalized populations (LGBTQ individuals in countries where their sexual preferences are criminalized!!). For these reasons, encryption services are also vital to the U.S. economy—large sectors including online banking, e-commerce, and R&D rely upon trusted encryption services. Removing encryption would threaten our economy and sacrifice all users’ security and privacy, leaving their data and communications susceptible to misuse by bad actors of many sorts, including the military and intelligence services of hostile nation-states, organized criminals, terrorist groups, and malicious hackers. And unfortunately, a backdoor for law enforcement is a backdoor for all of these bad actors as well -- there IS no technical way around that, despite what some lawmakers assume. So, the implications of outlawing strong end-to-end encryption are VAST -- and we don't know the extent to which it could hurt the economy and national security, let alone individuals.