Featured Image –“Idea about freedom of speech” by Bao-Hanh Do

Last week, I wrote a post about ethics and technology in 2020 and explored the question of protecting online anonymity at all costs. Should internet users be entitled to their anonymity, no matter the circumstances or consequences?

Youtuber Phillip DeFranco put out a video (linked below) on a new piece of legislation in the United States named the Eliminating Abusive & Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act, or more simply, the EARN IT Act.

What is the earn it act?

The EARN IT Act is a bill that is soon to be introduced by senators in both the Republican and Democratic parties which seeks to hold social media apps and websites liable for any illegal posts by their users.

At the moment, social media companies are currently protected under Section 230 of the Communications & Decency Act and are not held accountable for illegal content posted by their users. The EARN IT Act seeks to change this by compelling companies to earn the protection of this act, rather than being automatically covered by it.

What does this mean?

This could mean that sites such as Facebook and Twitter could start heavily moderating users’ content, thus limiting free speech and the sharing of information.

The act has also been slated as a “sneaky attempt to end encryption“, which could mean the removal of secure end-to-end encryption on private messaging apps such as WhatsApp, as companies attempt to curb what they deem to be illegal activity.

But what does that mean for the general population?

Conversations would no longer be private and you could no longer trust that your personal information would be safe. The act is being introduced as a way of stamping out online child abuse and exploitation, by requiring social media sites to take more responsibility for user activity or face legal consequences.

While I agree that not all internet users should be entitled to blanket anonymity and that more stringent measures are required to ensure the safety of children online, I also don’t think the power and responsibility should be given to social media corporations to police their users. Instead, I would say that better education for kids and parents, as well as stricter supervision of children using the internet, would be a more efficient method of eliminating online child abuse and exploitation.

But that’s just my opinion! What do you think? Let me know in the comments down below and don’t forget to check out Phillip DeFranco’s video on the act, linked down below.