A number of encrypted messaging apps, including WhatsApp and Signal, have banded together to oppose a proposed UK law that they say could undermine end-to-end encryption. Leaders of every company have signed an open letter asking the UK government to “urgently reconsider” sections of its online safety law to ensure it is in line with “the government’s stated intention to protect end-to-end encryption and to respect the human right to privacy.”
That of the UK Online Safety Bill is a new set of laws designed to protect children and adults online by holding social media companies accountable for user safety. The bill has been widely criticized for its potential to allow the UK government and its communications regulator OFCOM (Office of Communications) to abuse their newfound power in moderating online platforms. One clause requires companies that provide end-to-end encrypted messaging services to scan users’ messages for child sexual abuse material, something critics say would compromise encryption and users’ privacy.
Our position remains clear. We will not shy away from providing private, secure communications. Today we join other coded messengers pushing back the UK’s flawed online safety law. pic.twitter.com/MwGBgcvgjk
— Signal (@signalapp) April 18, 2023
“The bill does not provide explicit protection for encryption, and if implemented as written it could allow OFCOM to attempt to enforce proactive scanning of private messages on end-to-end encrypted communications services – thus defeating the purpose of end-to-end encryption as a result and endangering the privacy of all users,” the open letter reads. The United Nations have likewise warned that the bill’s requirements “represent a paradigm shift that raises a host of serious problems with potentially dire consequences.”
“We support strong encryption, but it should not come at the expense of public safety,” said a government official (seen via BBC news) in response to the criticism. “Tech companies have a moral obligation to ensure they do not blind themselves and the police to the unprecedented levels of child sexual abuse on their platforms. The Online Safety Act in no way represents a ban on end-to-end encryption, nor does it require services to weaken encryption.”
Both WhatsApp and Signal have previously stated that they would cease operations in the UK rather than weaken their encryption standards under the Online Safety Bill if so adopted in its current state later this year. Swiss app Threema also informed BBC news that weakening security “in any way, shape or form” is “totally out of the question.”
The open letter was signed by the leaders of WhatsApp, Signal, Threema, Element, Wire, Session, and Viber — all services that provide end-to-end encryption technology to their users. The letter states that “Global providers of end-to-end encrypted products and services cannot weaken the security of their products and services to accommodate individual governments. There can be no ‘British Internet’, or some version of end-to-end encryption specific to the UK.”
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