>wouldn't this CSAM scanning system be insufficient to meet those EARN-IT requirements?
Yes. My point is that there's an ongoing dance between the tech companies and the government, and through their negotiations and government connections Apple probably views this CSAM-scanning move as making an EARN-IT-like law less likely to be passed. It's overall the less-invasive option. The US federal government is putting pressure on tech companies not to host CSAM, and if tech giants didn't agree to do stuff like this the government could respond by passing stricter laws to effectively make unbackdoored e2e encryption illegal.
Apple has a lot of influence but at the end of the day they're a US-based company that has to follow US laws. Voluntarily implementing CSAM-scanning is in their own interest as a "pro-privacy" company if it prevents more draconian anti-encryption laws from being passed that could effectively outlaw e2e encryption.
I don't view this as Apple singlehandedly trying to eliminate end-to-end encryption; that seems like a pretty radical view of the situation to me but of course you're free to hold that opinion.
I don’t hold the view that Apple is trying to eliminate end to end encryption. I view this as a push by governments to do so and the increasing willingness of the tech industry to work with them.
This is more like Apple giving way gradually and the government happy since in the long run they get everything they want.
Examples: we don’t unlock phones for the government… but we give them all the data if you back up your phone… but you have so much privacy!
We don’t read your messages, oh wait now we do, but only for child abuse, oh wait, we don’t control what it looks for but let’s not talk about that because it hurts our marketing
Yes. My point is that there's an ongoing dance between the tech companies and the government, and through their negotiations and government connections Apple probably views this CSAM-scanning move as making an EARN-IT-like law less likely to be passed. It's overall the less-invasive option. The US federal government is putting pressure on tech companies not to host CSAM, and if tech giants didn't agree to do stuff like this the government could respond by passing stricter laws to effectively make unbackdoored e2e encryption illegal.
Apple has a lot of influence but at the end of the day they're a US-based company that has to follow US laws. Voluntarily implementing CSAM-scanning is in their own interest as a "pro-privacy" company if it prevents more draconian anti-encryption laws from being passed that could effectively outlaw e2e encryption.
I don't view this as Apple singlehandedly trying to eliminate end-to-end encryption; that seems like a pretty radical view of the situation to me but of course you're free to hold that opinion.