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EARN IT Act of 2023
3/8/2024, 3:55 PM
Summary of Bill S 1207
Under the EARN IT Act, online platforms would be required to adhere to these best practices in order to maintain their legal immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. This immunity protects online platforms from being held liable for content posted by their users.
Critics of the bill argue that it could undermine encryption and threaten online privacy rights. They are concerned that the bill could lead to increased government surveillance and censorship of online content. Supporters of the EARN IT Act argue that it is necessary to protect children from online predators and ensure that online platforms are doing everything they can to prevent the spread of child sexual abuse material. Overall, the EARN IT Act of 2023 is a controversial piece of legislation that aims to address a serious issue while also raising concerns about online privacy and freedom of speech.
Congressional Summary of S 1207
Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act of 2023 or the EARN IT Act of 2023
This bill revises the federal framework governing the prevention of online sexual exploitation of children.
The bill establishes the National Commission on Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention. The commission must develop best practices for interactive computer services providers (e.g., Facebook and Twitter) to prevent, reduce, and respond to the online sexual exploitation of children.
Additionally, the bill limits the liability protections of interactive computer service providers with respect to claims alleging violations of child sexual exploitation laws.
The bill replaces various statutory references to child pornography and material that contains child pornography with child sexual abuse material.
Finally, the bill makes changes to the reporting requirements for electronic communication service providers and remote computing service providers (providers) who report apparent instances of crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Among the changes, the bill requires providers to report facts and circumstances sufficient to identify and locate each minor and each involved individual. The bill also increases the amount of time that providers must preserve the contents of a report.
