Via @jdp23, the Senator behind the STOP CSAM bill, which outlaws many forms of encryption and doesn't actually stop CSAM, read that WaPo article about CSAM on the fediverse and tweeted about it:
https://twitter.com/SenatorDurbin/status/1683562063270928384
@thisismissem @jdp23 Ugh, that sucks. As we point out to policymakers every chance we get, none of our findings from any of our child safety projects would be fixed by breaking encryption. It's all from public data! From my colleague @riana:
https://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2023/04/stop-csam-act-anti-encryption-stalking-horse
Have you considered calling Sen. Durbin's office and saying so? Politely, of course. And maybe a brief note on the SIO website ("We have been informed that... we do not endorse... As we have previously written..." etc.). As a scientist, I know that misrepresentation of one's work is a nasty experience that can be guarded against but never prevented. In my field, the misrepresentation usually comes from people claiming that quantum mechanics proves homeopathy or astral projection, but it's not pleasant either way.
@bstacey @thisismissem @riana For sure—we started reaching out about this as soon as we were made aware, and will continue to do so. In this case I don't think any policymaker's mind was changed by the paper, it was just misused in a weak attempt to rally support for a bad bill.
Typically no matter what we say about child safety, there are policymakers that will say this is what proves they need to circumvent E2EE or have mandatory age verification. We do our best to convince them otherwise.
Emelia 👸🏻
David Thiel
Blake C. Stacey