Censoring Communication: WeChat and EARN IT Act
Nobody is surprised by the idea that certain governments try to censor the news, the companies that report it, and even the things people can talk about. But the way they do it is evolving all the time, changing to adapt to current communication methods. It’s important to know how your freedom is being limited, so it’s time to take a look at the latest examples of censorship.
WeChat vs COVID-19
It’s no secret that the Chinese government limits what people can say on the state-controlled messaging app WeChat. The app outright hides or rejects any messages containing certain keywords, including those related to the Tiananmen Square protests, the 709 arrests of lawyers, and other human rights violations committed by the state. Anything that has to do with anti-party sentiments or mocks Xi Jinping gets erased as well.
So, perhaps, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that the regime has cracked down on messages that mention the coronavirus or the lockdown stemming from it. Those using China’s messaging app can’t talk freely about many topics but, with this new turn, they can’t even break the news of friends and family getting infected or pass on precautions to their acquaintances. Censorship is always dangerous, but when it forbids people from sharing news of a dangerous epidemic, it could quite literally cost people their lives.
Not much can be done to prevent this, of course, as WeChat isn’t going to back down on censorship and any code the users make to get around it will eventually be discovered. So the only respite for China’s people is to find new channels of communication. Despite the country blocking most other means of contacting each other, tech savvy citizens have been finding their way onto Signal, Telegram, Briar, and other apps that don’t cave to the censorship demands of the state. But, thanks to some US lawmakers, these safe ports are now in danger.
The EARN IT Act
Amidst the coronavirus panic, the US government has been hard at work. Namely, they’ve been doing their best to push through the so-called EARN IT Act, full name — Eliminating Abuse and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act.
EARN IT looks to remove the Section 230 protections from any company that doesn’t follow its strict rules, thereby making social platforms liable for any illegal activity related to child exploitation that happens on them. So if a criminal contacted a child through Facebook, the company would be responsible for his deeds, despite clearly not condoning them or really aiding in any sort of criminal activity. The lawmakers argue that platforms being the route that a criminal takes to reach their illegal goals makes the platforms themselves legally-liable tools used by lawbreakers. This old rhetoric has been shot down time and time again, but it’s always brought back up by those seeking to compromise the integrity of these platforms.
US Attorney general William Barr has specifically highlighted the idea that predators contact children and talk to each other using “virtually unbreakable encryption”. That, of course, seems like a clear reference to E2E encryption, used by popular messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal. Appealing to parents’ fears for their child’s safety, the Act would offer a slim margin of protection against sexual crimes, especially considering that the majority of these crimes — both against children and adults — are committed by relatives or people they know, not some boogeyman hiding behind a WhatsApp account.
In fact, this seems more and more like a clever attempt to gain a backdoor into these communication platforms and the power to censor them. Now, this wouldn’t be the first time US-based messaging apps met censorship. Some have already clashed with lawmakers in cases like the CLOUD Act, which is trying to force WhatsApp and Facebook into putting backdoors into their encryption. Similar cases involved Telegram and Tutanota (an encrypted email service), getting banned in Russia for rejecting the state’s requests for backdoor access to user data.
Not only that, some apps are encouraging internal censorship to varying degrees. For example, WhatsApp has already been caught blocking any links to its main rival Telegram, including a restriction on the users’ ability to copy and paste them. Telegram itself has highlighted its censorship of ISIS channels and groups, relying on user reports to find and ban any channels promoting terrorism. These two examples are quite different, of course, but both companies are rejecting outside attacks on encryption, which is what unites them and other messengers.
While the Act is making headway in Congress and tech experts are expressing their outrage, one thing is clear. If we don’t fight back, we’ll see more and more censorship in the ways we communicate. It’s one thing when an app self-censors like WhatsApp does, because in that case, people can just move on to more secure alternatives. But when your own government attacks your right to privacy, there is a tangible risk of losing those alternatives. Legislation like the EARN IT Act is dangerous. For now, it’s only set to hit messengers and platforms based in the USA — avoiding apps like Viber, Telegram, Wire, and Briar. But Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Signal are all at risk of being compromised. Keep watching the situation and consider your backup options, because the US government seems to be sending a pretty clear message: “Want the right to communicate privately? You have to earn it now.”
