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Please note!
This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

Could a bill seeking to protect children from online sexual exploitation undermine end-to-end encryption on messaging services?

By Peter Lagershausen
YES

Opponents of a bill introduced earlier this year by Sen. Lindsey Graham, dubbed the EARN IT act, say it could undermine the use of end-to-end encryption techniques used by Apple iMessage, WhatsApp and other services.

"This bill is a backdoor way to allow the government to ban encryption on commercial services," a Johns Hopkins University cryptographer says.

The Brookings Institution, a think tank, calls it a "sneak ban" on encryption. The concern arises from provisions in the bill requiring online services to scan messages for images as part of overall efforts to address "sexual exploitation" of children online--requirements they say would be impossible to meet under current technology without undermining the security of every encrypted message.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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