Cynical speculation: Apple have decided their position of not being able to provide access to law enforcement is becoming a liability. They're probably under i

Cynical speculation: Apple have decided their position of not being able to provide access to law enforcement is becoming a liability. They're probably under intense pressure from several governments on that front. This is a way to intentionally let their hand be forced into scanning for arbitrary hashes on devices at the behest of governments, taking pressure off Apple and easing their relations with governments. They take a PR hit now, but it's not too bad since it's ostensibly about fighting child abuse, and Apple's heart is clearly in the right place. When later, inevitably, the hashes start to include other material, Apple can say their hands are tied on the matter - they can no longer use the "can't do it" defense and are forced to comply. This is much simpler than having to fight about it all the time.