If a potential source is too afraid to reach out, did that source even exist in the first place?

I think the impact is certainly concerning, but I doubt that it's likely that most sources are currently even using E2E encryption in the first place I'm not trying to minimize this, either: the EARN IT act is a huge problem. I suppose my point is that you can't get rid of good encryption, but you can prevent US companies from using good encryption which is simply going to push people offshore.

This could even have totally perverse impacts: suppose that China can read your messages, but all you care about is that your provider is not hosted in the US?