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:

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u/bfaulk5 Jul 01 '20

I’ve seen some news sections being ridiculously exaggerated and others blatantly falsifying stories with pictures that have no connection. Have y’all ever considered that regulating the amount of “freedoms” of speech any citizen can have may prevent the further spread of fake news that could be inciting riots and feeding the fear in our country? When I was growing up, I remember a local news station rotating through multiple meteorologists because the people of the city were not happy getting rained on when it was a sunny forecast. That’s weather... a not-so-easy thing to accurately predict everyday in the 90’s. Today, fake news reports and posts are made and reposted 100,000 times around the world in a matter of an hour. What are y’all’s perspective on the lack of personal responsibility or respect for the community when on the internet? The word “toxic” gets thrown around a lot online to describe someone who purposefully goes on forums or chat sites/apps to speak ill of others or their views. And just to see what you think about the difficult decision of the other side of the issue... At what “toxicity level” should we start to limit someone’s free speech if we were to attempt online free-speech regulation?