Although billed as a tool needed to fight online child exploitation, the EARN IT Act is chock full of unintended consequences that will actually make it harder to fight child exploitation. And as a backdoor to encryption, it’ll leave Americans’ digital security vulnerable to attack.
If passed, the EARN IT Act would:
- Make it easier for bad actors to attack and disclose Americans’ digital lives;
- Drive child predators underground and out of law enforcement’s reach;
- Undercut efforts to detect and combat child exploitation online;
- Stifle legal speech online; and
- Entrench large online services and make it harder for new competitors