The EARN IT Act Violates the US Constitution (eff.org)

Article summary

The EARN IT Act, a proposed US law, has been criticized by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) for violating the Constitution's protections for free speech and privacy. The law would require online platforms to comply with 'best practices' to prevent online child sexual exploitation, but EFF argues that this would give the government too much power to regulate speech and compel platforms to break encryption. The EFF also claims that the law would violate the Fourth Amendment by turning online platforms into government actors that search users' accounts without a warrant. The law is currently being considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Main themes

• EARN IT Act
• free speech
• privacy
• Fourth Amendment
• encryption
• child pornography
• online regulation
• constitutional rights
• border exception
• third-party doctrine

What commenters say

• The EARN IT Act's regulation of online speech may be struck down by a Republican-heavy Supreme Court due to its potential violation of the First Amendment.
• The third-party doctrine, which allows for the collection of data from third-party services, may undermine the argument that the EARN IT Act violates the Fourth Amendment.
• The EARN IT Act's coercion of online platforms to eliminate end-to-end encryption could lead to a violation of users' Fourth Amendment rights.
• Some argue that the third-party doctrine is outdated and should be reworked to account for the large amount of personal data held by third-party services.
• The border exception to the Fourth Amendment is seen as a problematic erosion of constitutional rights, particularly for people of color.
• The EARN IT Act's focus on preventing child pornography may be misguided, as it could drive the sharing of such content underground and trample on personal rights.
• Some argue that the government's efforts to prevent child pornography are overly broad and could lead to industrial-scale human rights abuses.
• The use of child pornography as a lever for regulating online speech and encryption is seen as a cynical and potentially harmful tactic.