Are companies afraid that opposing the Anti-Encryption Bill will automatically label them as in favor of online child exploitation?
I'm honestly curious about why there's no widespread opposition to the bill yet.
I'm honestly curious about why there's no widespread opposition to the bill yet.
Big companies don't generally make ethical stands, and small companies can't afford to. Apple makes some stands but only to be competitive against Android.
Facebook publicly coming out against this might not be helpful: most people just don’t care. Those that (potentially) do care are far more likely to be mobilized by the EFF or ACLU, which they tend to trust. Facebook isn’t the most trusted brand name in privacy, as far as I can tell. Their support might actually be detrimental for the cause.
An open split of Silicon Valley and Republicans would also “politicize” the issue. Almost instantly, you’d have the 35% of Trump supporters galvanizing around the bill, even if they were previously ignorant or lukewarm on it. See the recent train wreck around Qunines-against-covid for a great example of this effect.