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Dear Thomas: Thank you for writing to me to share your concerns about law enforcement access to encrypted communications. I appreciate the time you took to wr

Dear Thomas: Thank you for writing to me to share your concerns about law enforcement access to encrypted communications. I appreciate the time you took to write, and I welcome the opportunity to respond. I understand you are opposed to the “Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies (EARN IT) Act of 2020” (S. 3398), which I introduced with Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Josh Hawley (R-MO) on March 5, 2020. You may be interested to know that the Senate Judiciary Committee—of which I am Ranking Member—held a hearing on the “EARN IT Act” on March 11, 2020. If you would like to watch the full hearing or read the testimonies given by the hearing witnesses, I encourage you to visit the following website: https://sen.gov/53RV https://sen.gov/53RV. The “EARN IT Act” would establish a National Commission on Online Sexual Exploitation Prevention to recommend best practices for companies to identify and report child sexual abuse material. Companies that implement these, or substantially similar, best practices would not be liable for any child sexual abuse materials that may still be found on their platforms. Companies that fail to meet these requirements, or fail to take other reasonable measures, would lose their liability protection. Child abuse is one of the most heinous crimes, which is why I was deeply disturbed by recent reporting by The New York Times about the nearly 70 million online photos and videos of child sexual abuse that were reported by technology companies last year. It is a federal crime to possesses, distribute, or produce pictures of sexually explicit conduct with minors, and technology companies are required to report and remove these images on their platforms. Media reports, however, make it clear that current federal enforcement measures are insufficient and that we must do more to protect children from sexual exploitation. Please know that I believe we must strike an appropriate balance between personal privacy and public safety. It is helpful for me to hear your perspective on this issue, and I will be mindful of your opposition to the “EARN IT Act” as the Senate continues to debate proposals to address child sexual exploitation. Once again, thank you for writing. Should you have any other questions or comments, please call my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841 or visit my website at feinstein.senate.gov. You can also follow me online at YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, and you can sign up for my email newsletter at feinstein.senate.gov/newsletter. Best regards. Sincerely yours, Dianne Feinstein United States Senator

ibeckermayer 7y ago
"Please know that I believe we must strike an appropriate balance between personal privacy and public safety." Why do you believe that, Dianne? Do you disagree with the spirit of the Fourth Amendment? Are invasions of personal privacy only justified by probable cause, or is that not the case? What is your standard for the "appropriate balance"? ---------- Is it even worth assuming sincerity with somebody like Feinstein? Child pornography is a heinous crime, but not nearly as heinous as using child pornography as a lever for industrial scale human rights abuses. Frauds and/or useful idiots.
- malandrew 7y ago
  What's more absurd is the assumption that they can stop child porn or sharing of anything "subjective" in the sense that it's a bunch of bytes difficult to distinguish from other bytes without manual filtering. You just can't automate distinguishing between legitimate porn and child porn. Even if you could, you'll just drive sharing of such content underground, while trampling all over the personal rights of those doing nothing wrong. If they really want to address child pornography as a problem, they would treat it as a social ill/disease and go after the users instead of the platform. The goal should be reform that minimizes recidivism because it makes it easier to find those partaking in this content. At least with something like Facebook, they have a shot at identifying those sharing such content. Make it impossible to share on a widely used and understood service like Facebook and people will migrate to platforms that are much much harder to police.
- JamesBarney 7y ago
  I bet she has advocates in her office all the time with heinous pictures and stories. And I imagine over time that is more convincing than abstract arguments for privacy. I think she's making the wrong call but I can understand the process by which she made it.
CriticalCathed 7y ago
Treasonous.
- 7y ago

ibeckermayer 7y ago

"Please know that I believe we must strike an appropriate balance between personal privacy and public safety." Why do you believe that, Dianne? Do you disagree with the spirit of the Fourth Amendment? Are invasions of personal privacy only justified by probable cause, or is that not the case? What is your standard for the "appropriate balance"? ---------- Is it even worth assuming sincerity with somebody like Feinstein? Child pornography is a heinous crime, but not nearly as heinous as using child pornography as a lever for industrial scale human rights abuses. Frauds and/or useful idiots.

malandrew 7y ago
What's more absurd is the assumption that they can stop child porn or sharing of anything "subjective" in the sense that it's a bunch of bytes difficult to distinguish from other bytes without manual filtering. You just can't automate distinguishing between legitimate porn and child porn. Even if you could, you'll just drive sharing of such content underground, while trampling all over the personal rights of those doing nothing wrong. If they really want to address child pornography as a problem, they would treat it as a social ill/disease and go after the users instead of the platform. The goal should be reform that minimizes recidivism because it makes it easier to find those partaking in this content. At least with something like Facebook, they have a shot at identifying those sharing such content. Make it impossible to share on a widely used and understood service like Facebook and people will migrate to platforms that are much much harder to police.
JamesBarney 7y ago
I bet she has advocates in her office all the time with heinous pictures and stories. And I imagine over time that is more convincing than abstract arguments for privacy. I think she's making the wrong call but I can understand the process by which she made it.

CriticalCathed 7y ago

Treasonous.

7y ago