elliotharmon

My name is Elliot Harmon. I'm the activism director at EFF, but I'm currently away from work and my comments here reflect my views only.

I think you're right about the tide changing on encryption. That said, the anti-encryption advocates are getting smarter too. They're not talking about straight up mandated backdoors anymore; now they're talking about client-side scanning and other "solutions" that might sound less pernicious at first but are just as dangerous to your privacy.

To your question #2, I would say that that's the problem: giving this much authority over how online speech is regulated to unelected people is inherently dangerous. Any changes to Section 230 must come through a careful, transparent lawmaking process. EARN IT essentially gives the Commission (and particularly the AG) the power to use it for forcing their specific policy goals on the companies.

Also consider the "poison pill" in EARN IT. If no "best practices" are approved by Congress, then Section 230 protections get weakened for all platforms. So I'd throw the question back to the bill's supporters: if nothing happens after this bill is passed, then it still does a great deal of damage to online speech. Why are they putting so much trust in the Commission?

How much do you think about diversity in the lineup of Max Fun podcasts? Do you worry about shows like The Goosedown or Throwing Shade being perceived as tokenism?