Florida Bill to Compromise End-to-End Encryption Withdrawn

By Netvora Tech News

A proposed bill in the US state of Florida that would have forced social media platforms to provide a mechanism for law enforcement to access end-to-end encrypted data has been indefinitely postponed and removed from the agenda. The American civil liberties organization EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) is hailing the move as a victory for privacy and encryption. The bill, known as "Social Media Use By Minors," aimed to regulate social media use by minors, giving parents and law enforcement more control over online activities. It sought to prevent platforms from offering features that allow messages to automatically disappear after a certain period, and would have required parents to have access to all messages sent by their minor children. The bill also stipulated that social media platforms must provide a way for law enforcement to access end-to-end encrypted messages, or other "data encryption features" that restrict access to messages. This would have required platforms to weaken their encryption, which the EFF argues is unacceptable. "Weakening encryption to make it useless is not an option," the EFF said in a statement. "Minors, as well as those around them, deserve the right to communicate privately without law enforcement eavesdropping." The EFF is calling on policymakers in Florida to reject the bill, arguing that instead of playing politics with children's privacy, they should focus on real, achievable measures to protect children and adults alike, such as improving privacy legislation and increasing digital literacy in schools.

The bill would have forced social media platforms to provide a mechanism for law enforcement to access end-to-end encrypted data.
The EFF argues that weakening encryption is unacceptable and would compromise privacy.
The bill aimed to regulate social media use by minors, giving parents and law enforcement more control over online activities.