Apr 24, 2023 14:00:00

The Electronic Frontier Foundation protests against the ``EARN IT bill'' that looks at private photos and messages against child pornography

The ``

EARN IT bill '', which requests services such as Twitter to scan user data for the purpose of preventing child sexual exploitation, was submitted to the 118th United States Congress. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has criticized this bill in strong words, saying, ``In the name of eradicating crime, all Internet users will be suspected of child abuse and forever treated as potential criminals.''

The EARN IT Bill Is Back, Seeking To Scan Our Messages and Photos | Electronic Frontier Foundation
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/earn-it-bill-back-again-seeking-scan-our-messages-and-photos

The `` EARN IT Bill '' submitted to the United States Congress from January 2023 is intended to revise

Article 230 of the Communications Decency Act enacted in 1996, commonly known as `` Section 230 ''. Section 230, which exempts providers from liability for user-generated harmful content, the so-called 'Provider Indemnity', is credited with underpinning free speech on the Internet. On the other hand, SNS and other platforms have become an excuse to neglect harmful content, so there have been frequent discussions about revisions.

The EARN IT Bills were introduced to Congress in 2020 and 2022 specifically to prevent online child sexual exploitation, but both were enacted due to opposition, including the risk of government censorship. did not reach Senator Lindsey Graham introduced the bill to Congress on April 19, 2023.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has voiced its opposition whenever privacy and freedom of speech on the Internet are threatened, said in response to the EARN IT bill, which is in its third iteration, 'This bill is a non-elected government committee. and established law enforcement officials to establish 'best practices' for operating sites and apps on the Internet. It removes nearly 30 years of legal protections for owners and opens up civil and criminal prosecution for those who don't follow government 'best practices'.'

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, if the EARN IT bill is passed, operators of websites and apps that encrypt data to protect user privacy will be forced to remove or compromise security measures on their services. He said that he would be pressured to change it, and that if he did not comply, he could be sued. User privacy is also threatened as state legislatures require services such as SNS to scan messages, photos and files.

'This is similar to a plan Apple wisely shelved,' noted the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Apple discards the implementation of ``a system that checks for images of sexual child abuse in iCloud Photos''-GIGAZINE

As mentioned above, the EARN IT bill has been rejected twice so far, so language has been added to protect encryption in response to objections. However, it is pointed out that this protection is a sham because the bill would send data directly from the user's device to law enforcement before the message is encrypted.

In addition, it is difficult to say that the system for scanning child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is perfect, so it has been clarified by multiple verifications that innocent people may suffer fraudulent charges. .

It turns out that there is a big hole in Apple's ``child pornography detection system in the iPhone'' that receives fierce opposition from all over the world - GIGAZINE

In this regard, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said, 'It is appalling that a group of senators are trying to pass the EARN IT bill for the third time. It's a law that may scan, meaning that all Internet users will be suspected of child abuse and permanently treated as would-be criminals in the name of combating crime.'

In response to these objections, those who support regulations sometimes point out that 'as long as there is nothing to complain about, there should be no problems.' In response, in a thread on the social news site Hacker News, which featured the Electronic Frontier Foundation's statement, ``The argument that ``there is nothing to hide'' overlooks that power is abused. , It is necessary to be careful that it is an error.” A counterargument was posted .