i2Coalition Signs Letter Expressing Serious Concerns Over EARN-IT Act

Ahead of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s planned markup of S. 1207, the EARN IT Act, on  May 4, the Internet Infrastructure Coalition (i2Coalition) and 10 other tech industry and advocacy groups sent a letter to the committee’s leadership to express serious concerns over some of the bill’s provisions. 

The May 1 letter points out that while the EARN-IT Act is intended to strengthen and better coordinate law enforcement and Internet industry efforts in fighting the creation and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online, the bill as it currently stands would have the opposite effect—hindering law enforcement efforts, disincentivizing companies for detecting and removing this heinous material, threatening online privacy and security, and impairing lawful free speech on the Internet.

The letter reads in part:

“Technology companies continue to invest significant resources in combating CSAM including through the development of cutting-edge technology and tools that identify CSAM. Companies have also established voluntary industry organizations that work to set industry standards and share best practices throughout the sector with the goal to make the internet as safe as possible. While industry makes tens of millions of CSAM reports to authorities every year, fewer than 1500 prosecutions have occurred annually. Instead of indiscriminate scanning of millions of devices, increased resources for law enforcement are needed to ensure more cases are prosecuted and more perpetrators are stopped.” 

The letter notes that these highlighted concerns have gone unaddressed since the EARN-IT Act was originally introduced in 2020 as an amendment to Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934.  

You can read the full letter here.

The signatories to this letter are:

ACT | The App Association
Chamber of Progress
Computer & Communications Industry Association
Consumer Technology Association
Developers Alliance
Engine
Internet Infrastructure Coalition
NetChoice
Patreon
Software & Information Industry Association
TechNet

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The i2Coalition’s mission is to keep the Internet open as an engine for growth and innovation. i2Coalition membership is made up of diverse and innovative key players from across the Internet infrastructure industry and around the world. Our members include hosting providers, domain registries, domain registrars, cloud services providers, data centers, payment processors, software developers and more. For more in-depth updates on Internet policy, including issues that specifically impact your organization, please contact us about joining the i2Coalition.