US Senator Lindsey Graham has introduced the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act, which allows law enforcement and tech companies to work together to protect children.
The bill applies to any company offering "interactive computing services", including cloud-based systems and messaging applications such as Apple's iMessage and Facebook's WhatsApp, which use end-to-end encryption.
According to the document, technology companies should partner with the newly created National Commission on Online Child Exploitation and Prevention to "remove from view and report material related to child exploitation or child sexual abuse."
Companies like Apple and Facebook will have to block and report prohibited content even on their end-to-end encrypted services. Since companies cannot access data in end-to-end encrypted products, the bill will force them to find a way to bypass security systems.
If technology giants do not comply with these requirements (transfer prohibited materials to the newly created commission), they will lose the protection provided for by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which relieves companies from liability for user actions.
