Understand the Earn It Act & Its Imminent Threat to our Digital Privacy
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Earn It Act yesterday, and now it's headed to the Senate floor... Privacy experts are worried, here's why.
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The Earn It Act, amended.
In 2017, Congress passed FOSTA/SESTA - legislation that was intended to combat online sex trafficking but only made the lives of those involved in the sex trades (both victims of trafficking & consensual sex workers) more dangerous. As just one example, it caused the shutdown of Backpage.com, a site where sex workers could advertise their own services and vet their clients before any IRL meet-ups, and sent many onto the streets to find work, empowering pimps and elevating risk.
Sex trafficking, or the use of force to obtain commercial sex acts, is a horrendous crime but its horror has been deliberately employed by lawmakers—along with many impassioned NGOs, activists, and even celebrities—to garner support for policies and practices that have infringed upon our digital privacy rights, caused increased harm to sex workers and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and done practically nothing to address the real problem, even making it worse by driving the industry further underground. The Washington Post debunks the claim made by Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) about the bills, “We have shut down nearly 90 percent of the online sex-trafficking business and ads,” here.
The Earn It Act is a clear extension of FOSTA/SESTA, going even further in its (failing) attempt to curb trafficking and grossly exacerbating its harm. It would…
give the Department of Justice, through a handpicked commission (of unelected officials, mostly law enforcement), unprecedented power over surveillance and policing of the internet.
force websites to comply with “best practices” for preventing online child exploitation handed down from the commission, or risk getting shut down.
weaken Section 230 by allowing individuals to sue the platforms themselves for harmful content shared by an individual user.
essentially require platforms to scan and give police special access to all user messages, weakening encryption practices.
In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, attorneys from the Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote:
“Preventing the online sexual exploitation of children is indisputably a compelling governmental interest. However, this bill is not narrowly tailored to achieve that interest… the bill does not just directly target unlawful content, such as child pornography or child sex trafficking ads. Rather, the bill regulates how online service providers must operate their platforms and manage the speech they host. Thus, the bill will inevitably lead platforms to censor wholly lawful content, as companies will be incentivized to err on the side of overbroad before-the-fact content screening and/or after-the-fact content takedowns in order to either comply with the ‘best practices’ and preserve their Section 230 immunity, or at least avoid being deemed ‘reckless’ under 18 U.S.C. §2255.”
The version of the Earn It Act that was passed had been amended slightly, but according to a statement from the ACLU,
“these changes do not alleviate the concerns that the EARN IT Act will undermine the privacy of every single American, stifle our ability to communicate freely online, and harm LGBTQ people, sex workers, and protesters.”
What We Need to
First, educate ourselves and stay informed about current events in the realm of digital privacy:
Follow on Instagram: @hackinghustling, @falkyou, @techwithtaz, @digitalempress, @cybercollectiveorg.
Subscribe to Casey Newton’s newsletter: The Interface.
Find a book about the internet and read it. Some suggestions:
Second, call these Senators (visit the post) and use this script to express opposition to the Earn It Act:
Next, sign this letter to Congress to Save Internet Freedom and support the Open Technology Fund.
And finally, support sex workers by:
paying for porn, services, education, consulting, everything.
supporting the decriminalization of sex work. Find your city’s Decrim coalition and get involved. Here’s NY - @decrimny.
only supporting platforms that help sex workers work—helping them monetize and giving them more control, agency, and privacy. Sites like OnlyFans are mostly a safe bet because they put your money directly into the pockets of sex workers, but always do due diligence to make sure the profile is not a fraud.
This Is Urgent
Please spread the word and share these links around!
The Senators who introduced the bill, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), are taking advantage of a time when the media is focused on other things. The Earn It Act is managing to sneak its way through Congress despite posing serious threats to digital privacy and the wellbeing of marginalized folks online.
THIS IS SO SO WRONG AND WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
Thanks for reading and as always, reach out if you have any questions!
xx
Val
art courtesy of @hackinghustling