Matrix is federated and individual servers can be run by volunteers/individuals for whom EARN IT would not apply.
It would apply to them if they were or served US citizens, which would mean that nobody in the US could get encryption, which is exactly what might happen with Signal.
Sure, but only if they could be identified. So obviously any such volunteers would make sure that they remained anonymous. Otherwise, they would suffer the consequences.
Can we stop saying blockchain for everything? You don't always need to, nor want to, audit your entire history.
So if every country passes something like EARN IT, Signal shuts down, how is that resilient?
That's not a forgone conclusion. Maybe it is for Signal, but not for chat overall. There's this thing called Tor. If you're careful, you can remain anonymous. And there's the new onion routing network Loki, which backs the Session chat app.
If things got bad enough, there are more robust options. I can imagine a botnet that spread much like WannaCry, and which offered deniable messaging via covert channels. Data transmissions would be hard to detect, and running the network components would be deniable.
regardless, the e2e encryption debate seems largely settled by the key players at this point. I think any legislation that makes its way through is likely to see brinkmanship again. Theres no reason these services cant use darknets. At the risk of sounding like a cryptobro, theres also no reason they have to use a server at all with blockchain.