Do you like reading about the history of sex and sexuality? Do you think states and countries should not be seeking new and innovative ways to place strictures on how such discussions and depictions are made available? Do you hate the idea of your state suddenly destroying anything remotely adult (like, say, a website with a URL that contains the term “sodomy”?)?
If any of the above are problems for you, perhaps you should look into the United States Congress’ attempts, once again, to pass the EARN IT Act.
Under current rules and reporting guidelines there are few, if any, barriers for adults in accessing typically “adult” materials. A service provider will (generally) allow your encrypted material to pass from provider to you, unimpeded. Abuse, meanwhile, is taken at a case-by-case basis. The EARN IT Act changes all that.
Believing the only way to stop child abuse is to restrict the flow of information across the internet so the government can surveil it, the EARN IT Act harms the current standard for encryption and reporting, running roughshod over various protections that have proven adequate to reporting child sexual abuse and trafficking.
Furthermore, the Act would enable states to pass increasingly restrictive measures; here in Oregon, for example, has seen a GOP-backed bill that would require every website that includes sexual material to require age verification. This bill is SB1570, the overview and text are here: https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2022R1/Measures/Overview/SB1570
The practical impact of these laws will fall hardest on small-time artists, producers, and yes, even your local queer-oriented website that discusses sexuality. Will you still be able to access frank discussions of sex without creating endless usernames and passwords, potentially creating a perfect storm of identity theft risk? Will your state allow you to use queer terminology, now often seen as necessarily sexual by transphobic and homophobic policy makers?
Stopping this bill is important, and several organizations have already stepped up to stop it, here are just a few:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation: https://act.eff.org/action/stop-the-earn-it-act-to-save-our-privacy
The American Civil Liberties Union: https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/the-earn-it-act-is-a-disaster-for-online-speech-and-privacy-especially-for-the-lgbtq-and-sex-worker-communities/
The Center for Democracy and Technology: https://cdt.org/insights/press-release-earn-it-act-threatens-privacy-protections-free-expression/
The Center for Internet and Society: http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2022/02/earn-it-act-back-and-it%E2%80%99s-more-dangerous-ever
Mozilla: https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/campaigns/oppose-earn-it-act/
So what can you do?
If you value free speech, LGBTQS2+ rights, art, and academic freedom, then opposing the EARN IT Act is one of the most important things you can do during this year’s Congress. Given the wide spread of supporters in Congress, the first step would be to call your legislators, all of them, and ensure they will oppose the EARN IT Act.
- Dial (212) 224-3121 and let the switchboard operator know what state you are in and your purpose of calling.
- Let them know that the EARN IT Act will increase the government’s surveillance apparatus
- Identify, briefly (keep your call short), the areas most relevant to you, for example if you are an artist or author whose material is likely to be treated as pornographic
- Let them know that the best way to protect children is not creating further walls around the free flow of information
The second action you can take is to directly contact your legislators from their websites.
- House members can be found through this form: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
- Senate members can be found here: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
Finally, try educating your peers, family, and social networks about the impacts of this law and the trickle-down impact on internet freedom. Let them know what internet freedom means to you!
Defeating this bill is essential for internet freedom: don’t let them steal your rights under the guise of protecting children. Protect your children from a legacy of censorship and state-allowed information. Stop the EARN IT Act.