CDT Joins Letter to Fix the TAKE IT DOWN Act to Protect Encryption

(Last updated on April 4, 2025)

Today, CDT joined more than 30 other civil society organizations and cybersecurity experts in submitting a letter to the House of Representatives Committee on Energy & Commerce, urging the Committee to amend the TAKE IT DOWN Act to protect encryption. 

As the letter points out, the TAKE IT DOWN Act aims to combat the distribution of nonconsensual intimate imagery, which is a laudable goal, but its overbroad requirements for content removal could force encrypted service providers to break encryption or implement invasive monitoring technologies, endangering cybersecurity and free speech. 

The letter calls on the members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce to amend the TAKE IT DOWN Act by adding encrypted services to the list of services that are already excluded from obligations under the Act.

The letter builds on CDT’s advocacy urging modifications to the bill to address its risks to users’ online speech and privacy rights.

Read the full letter here.