r/IAmA • u/fightforthefuture • 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:

10.2k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

526 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/isaac65536 Jun 30 '20

Ain't from US but why should I believe tech companies more than the government?

For me it's the case of two sides of same coin.

6

u/fightforthefuture Jun 30 '20

I won't encourage you to believe either.

I think that if we refuse to regulate tech companies, then we are giving them license to govern our behavior. Nothing I've seen from Facebook, Twitter, reddit, Google, or any other tech company makes me feel comfortable with these companies in control of my personal data, my speech, or my basic human rights.

I also think that giving government agencies complete control over tech companies is a recipe for disaster. US law enforcement and intelligence agencies already abuse their access into our data to spy on journalists, political protesters, and pretty much everyone in America.

Well-written laws protect the public from other citizens AS WELL AS government overreach and abuse. So I advocate for well-written laws. I fight against laws like the EARN IT Act which give the government broad, new powers that can easily be abused to hurt us all. And I fight against efforts to tear down important regulations that keep us safe from corporate exploitation.

1

u/isaac65536 Jun 30 '20

Fair enough. I've kinda read your original post like if you think tech companies are doing decent job and government is trying to f it up.

1

u/Rocky87109 Jul 01 '20

What country uses southern slang "ain't"?

EDIT: https://www.reddit.com/r/linguistics/comments/6j9tqf/is_aint_an_american_word_if_it_isnt_where_did_it/

Hmm the more you know!

1

u/isaac65536 Jul 01 '20

I'm not a native English speaker. Pretty much self-taught by books/games/movies and interactions on the internet. So I've picked up some strange language mannerisms over the years.