from the the-4th-amendment-is-still-there-guys dept
A month ago, the controversial EARN IT Act sailed through a markup hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. If enacted, the bill would strip the providers of online services of Section 230 immunity for their users’ child sexual exploitation offenses, meaning they could be subject to civil suit by private plaintiffs and criminal charges under state law. The idea is that providers aren’t presently doing enough to combat child sex abuse material (CSAM) on their services, and that exposing them to more liability would goad them into better behavior.
A handful of committee members—Senators Lee, Coons, Ossoff, Booker, and Padilla (plus Leahy, kind of)—voiced concerns that, as written, the bill would have negative consequences for encryption, privacy, security, free speech, and human rights, and would further harm…
