EARN IT Act
Bad
Not before the 119th Congress●●● High threatUpdated January 3, 2025
Strips platforms of liability protection in a way that pressures them to break end-to-end encryption.
SponsorLindsey Graham (R-SC), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
IntroducedApril 19, 2023
Latest actionNot before the 119th Congress (January 3, 2025)
What it does
EARN IT strips Section 230 protection from platforms unless they follow state and federal rules on child sexual abuse material. Scanning private messages is the easy way to comply, so the bill pushes companies to weaken or drop end-to-end encryption rather than face lawsuits.
Why it matters
A door built to catch abusers is a door for everyone. Once a company can read your messages to satisfy the law, hackers and the state can use the same way in.
Our take
EARN IT never bans encryption. It makes offering it a legal risk, so companies drop it themselves. It has died in committee three Congresses running and keeps coming back, so treat it as dormant, not dead.
Previous versions
- 116th Congress (2020)S.3398 / H.R.8454Died in committee
- 117th Congress (2022)S.3538 / H.R.6544Died in committee
- 118th Congress (2023)S.1207 / H.R.2732Died in committee
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Our coverage: all earn-it stories · Status checked July 16, 2026