WhatsApp and different messaging companies have united to oppose Britain’s plan to drive tech corporations to break end-to-end encryption in non-public messages in its proposed web security laws.
Meta-owned WhatsApp, Signal and 5 different apps signed an open letter saying the legislation might give an “unelected official the power to weaken the privacy of billions of people around the world”.
Britain’s Online Safety Bill was initially designed to create one of many hardest regimes for regulating platforms reminiscent of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
The proposals had been watered down in November, when a requirement to cease “legal but harmful content” was eliminated to defend free speech, and as a substitute the main target was placed on unlawful content material, notably associated to baby security.
The British authorities stated the invoice in “no way represented a ban on end-to-end encryption, nor would it require services to weaken encryption“.
But it desires regulator Ofcom to have the ability to make platforms use accredited know-how, or strive to develop new know-how, to determine baby sexual abuse content material.
The letter signatories stated this was incompatible with end-to-end encryption, which permits a message to be learn solely by the sender and recipient.
“The bill provides no explicit protection for encryption, and if implemented as written, could empower Ofcom to try to force the proactive scanning of private messages on end-to-end encrypted communication services – nullifying the purpose of end-to-end encryption as a result and compromising the privacy of all user,” they stated.
The invoice poses an “unprecedented threat to the privacy, safety and security of every UK citizen and the people with whom they communicate around the world, while emboldening hostile governments who may seek to draft copy-cat laws”, they stated.
A British authorities spokesperson stated: “We support strong encryption, but this cannot come at the cost of public safety.
“Tech corporations have an ethical responsibility to guarantee they aren’t blinding themselves and legislation enforcement to the unprecedented ranges of kid sexual abuse on their platforms.”
© Thomson Reuters 2023
