Changes

The '''EARN IT bill''' is US legislation purportedly for "Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention, and for other purposes." It is sponsored by senator '''Lindsey Graham''' (R-SC), and supported by Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kevin Cramer (D-ND), Josh Hawley (R-MS), Doug Jones (D-AL), Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Joni Ernst (R-IA). The objective of this bill is to create "...an Internet where the law required every message sent to be read by government-approved scanning software. Companies that handle such messages wouldn't be allowed to securely encrypt them, or they'd lose legal protections that allow them to operate."<ref name="EARN IT text">https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/3398/text</ref> Among other things, it would remove protections under Section 230 of federal law, from companies that don't follow "best practices." This means that non-compliant companies could be sued into bankruptcy. These "best practices" will be dictated on an ongoing basis by the new "National Commission on Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention" which this bill would form.<ref name="EFF EARN IT">https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/earn-it-bill-governments-not-so-secret-plan-scan-every-message-online</ref><ref>https://www.wnd.com/2020/03/new-web-threat-government-plan-scan-online-messages/</ref>

The '''EARN IT Act''' (S.3398) is US legislation purportedly for "Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention, and for other purposes." It is sponsored by senator '''Lindsey Graham''' (R-SC), and supported by Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kevin Cramer (D-ND), Josh Hawley (R-MS), Doug Jones (D-AL), Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Joni Ernst (R-IA). The objective of this bill is to create "...an Internet where the law required every message sent to be read by government-approved scanning software. Companies that handle such messages wouldn't be allowed to securely encrypt them, or they'd lose legal protections that allow them to operate."<ref name="EARN IT text">https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/3398/text</ref> Among other things, it would remove protections under Section 230 of federal law, from companies that don't follow "best practices." This means that non-compliant companies could be sued into bankruptcy. These "best practices" will be dictated on an ongoing basis by the new "National Commission on Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention" which this bill would form.<ref name="EFF EARN IT">https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/earn-it-bill-governments-not-so-secret-plan-scan-every-message-online</ref><ref>https://www.wnd.com/2020/03/new-web-threat-government-plan-scan-online-messages/</ref>

While the bill deliberately avoids saying that it bans end-to-end encryption, it essentially does so for companies, by requiring them to either stop using encryption, or add "back-doors" to their encryption so that all messages can be scanned by the federal government.<ref name="EFF EARN IT">https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/earn-it-bill-governments-not-so-secret-plan-scan-every-message-online</ref>

While the bill deliberately avoids saying that it bans end-to-end encryption, it essentially does so for companies, by requiring them to either stop using encryption, or add "back-doors" to their encryption so that all messages can be scanned by the federal government.<ref name="EFF EARN IT">https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/earn-it-bill-governments-not-so-secret-plan-scan-every-message-online</ref>