Letter to Senator Schumer Opposing the EARN IT Act

Read the PDF version here.

Dear Senator Schumer,

My name is Jackie Singh. I am the Technology Director at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a 501(C)(3), non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider based in New York City. At S.T.O.P., we advocate and litigate to stop the government's use of harmful surveillance technologies.

I am writing to you on behalf of my fellow New Yorkers to stand together in firm and vocal opposition to the EARN IT Act, which recently was advanced by the Judiciary Committee on February 10. The sponsors of this previously failed bill envision the establishment of new and massive surveillance systems at each private company which would scan the communications of their users. Encryption is the fundamental communications technology which underpins the Internet's trust and safety mechanisms. The EARN IT Act will create specific limitations on the use of encryption such that it will no longer be effective. Such an absolutist system can only result in the chilling of free expression and the fostering of a climate of self-censorship.

The very concept of our government forcing websites into surveilling children and violating their civil rights at scale is incompatible with a functioning democracy. This bill would give more than 50 state and territorial legislatures the power to censor any Internet content they dislike under the leadership of an unelected commission dominated by law enforcement officials. The real purpose behind this Act is to further degrade the surviving Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which has and continues to provide the Internet a critical foundation upon which to flourish.

The choice between protecting our children versus maintaining the integrity of our fundamental, constitutionally enshrined rights is a false choice. 

This Act would not only deeply threaten the privacy of every American, but it would also place vulnerable communities in explicit danger, undermine human rights, and serve to limit free expression within and beyond our borders. These negative outcomes would ultimately only further harm the privacy and safety of Americans, while simultaneously signaling to adversarial powers that our democracy can no longer sustain our most cherished ideals.

We are far from the only organization speaking out about this latest assault on our democracy. Dozens of human rights groups, LGBTQ+ organizations, and security experts have spoken out against the EARN IT Act (See: https://twitter.com/evan_greer/status/1491422080424095745).

Please, vote against this Act and encourage other Members to do so as well!

We appreciate your attention to this bill as a matter of urgency and would like to thank you and your staff for all you do to protect the rights of Americans in your District and elsewhere.

Sincerely,

 Jackie Singh

Director of Technology