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- Ban of end-to-end encryption could jeopardize privacy of users around the world, privacy groups claim
- Messaging apps threaten to leave UK if government does not take concerns seriously
LONDON: Ministers have been warned that WhatsApp could quit the UK if the government pushes ahead with the Online Safety Bill, the controversial piece of legislation that intends to improve internet safety.
鈥淭hese services, such as WhatsApp, will potentially leave the UK,鈥� Claire Fox, founder of the think tank Institute of Ideas, told the government last week.
She argues that the UK represents a 鈥渞elatively small market鈥� and that big tech will not compromise on user safety for billions of users around the world.
鈥淭his is not like threatening to storm off. It is not done in any kind of pique in that way. In putting enormous pressure on these platforms to scan communications, we must remember that they are global platforms,鈥� she added.
Meta鈥檚 instant messaging app is at the center of a nationwide debate over users鈥� safety and privacy concerns that could see the service deciding to leave the British market.
Last month, WhatsApp, Signal, and five other messaging services joined forces to criticize the government's Online Safety Bill.
In an open letter sent to the government, they expressed concern that the bill would kill end-to-end encryption, which could lead to 鈥渞outine, general, and indiscriminate surveillance of personal messages.鈥�
The proposed legislation authorizes the British communications regulator, Ofcom, to require social networks to use technology to combat terrorism or child sexual abuse content. Failure to comply may result in fines of up to 10 percent of global revenue for the services in question.
The government said that companies such as Meta must use 鈥渂est endeavours鈥� to develop or source technology that adheres to the regulation.
However, messaging applications that employ end-to-end encryption claim that it is impossible to read user messages without violating their commitment to users, and they have already pledged to continue putting users鈥� privacy first.
These providers, including WhatsApp and Signal, also argued that the bill offers no explicit protection for encryption, and Ofcom could use it to mandate the scanning of private messages on E2EE communication services, undermining the purpose of E2EE and jeopardizing all users鈥� privacy.
鈥淣inety-eight percent of our users are outside the UK,鈥� WhatsApp鈥檚 chief Will Cathcart told the press last March.
鈥淭hey do not want us to lower the security of the product, and just as a straightforward matter, it would be an odd choice for us to choose to lower the security of the product in a way that would affect those 98 percent of users.鈥�
Legislators and privacy groups have called on the government to take these concerns seriously, but supporters have shown so far little flexibility claiming that the online safety bill 鈥渋n no way represents a ban on end-to-end encryption, nor will it require services to weaken encryption.鈥�
But Richard Allan, former Meta鈥檚 head of policy, described the government approach as one of 鈥渋ntentional ambiguity鈥� and said the government should make it clearer whether it wants or not to limit E2EE and stop playing 鈥渢his high-stakes game.鈥�
Supporters see the Online Safety Bill, which has been in the works for more than four years, as a beacon of online safety and a way to rein in big tech companies.
But several consumer protection groups dubbed the proposed law as 鈥渟hortsighted鈥� and a 鈥渢hreat to free speech,鈥� adding that it fails to address the problem it was originally designed for.
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 want to lose our minds, we need to think about the systems, not the symptoms, of online harms,鈥� said international human rights lawyer and pioneer in digital rights Susie Alegre.
鈥淩ather than making the UK a beacon for online safety, the new bill fails to address the underlying issues, while exacerbating the risks to human rights by creating a system of outsourced censorship.鈥�