WASHINGTON, D.C. — An ACLU-led coalition of civil rights groups and groups representing LGBTQ+ individuals, sex workers, journalists and libraries issued an open letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday, warning against the Strengthening Transparency and Obligations to Protect Children Suffering from Abuse and Mistreatment (STOP CSAM) Act.
The groups, which include Free Speech Coalition (FSC) wrote to Schumer to make public their opposition to S. 1199, comparing it to the equally controversial Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act (EARN IT) Act.
The STOP CSAM Act, the groups explain, “would lead apps and websites to surveil every single word, image, and video its users post, censor First Amendment protected speech, and stop offering services that are critical for enabling secure, private conversations.”
The letter also warns that the legislation will lead to “censorship of First Amendment protected speech, including speech about reproductive health, sexual orientation and gender identity, and personal experiences related to gender, sex, and sexuality.”
Noting that platforms already “regularly remove content that has vague ties to sex or sexuality, for fear of liability,” the coalition’s letter cautions that passage of S. 1199 would incentivize apps and websites “to exercise a heavier hand at content moderation.”
The groups specifically question language in the STOP CSAM Act, crafted to sidestep Section 230 protection and encourage civil lawsuits against platforms for “intentionally, knowingly or recklessly” hosting CSAM or facilitating a violation of CSAM laws.
“This means a court can find an app or website liable for hosting CSAM even if the app or website did not know it was hosting CSAM,” the letter notes. “In order to avoid such liability, apps and websites are likely to scan all of the content on their platforms and remove any content that a state court could find, even wrongfully, is CSAM.”
To read the civil liberties coalition’s letter to Sen. Schumer, visit ACLU.org.
