WhatsApp is at risk of being banned in the UK
due to government online security requirements, warned Will Cathcart, the app's
CEO. He explained that WhatsApp would refuse to comply if asked to do so,
describing the proposed law as one of the "most concerning"
legislations currently being discussed in the Western world.
Under this law, WhatsApp, along with other
social media platforms, may be forced to weaken end-to-end encryption, which is
currently used to ensure the privacy of user messages. The government says this
is necessary to protect children from illegal content. State ministers want to
make changes to encryption systems on social media through the new online
safety law, currently being presented to parliament. Under this legislation, the
government can request that apps weaken encryption so that messages can be
searched for content related to prohibited topics, such as child sexual abuse
or terrorism.
According to this law, WhatsApp, along with
other social media platforms, may be forced to weaken end-to-end encryption,
which is currently used to ensure the privacy of user messages. The government
argues that this is necessary to protect children from illegal content.
State ministers want to make changes to
encryption systems on social media through the new online safety law, which is
currently being presented to Parliament. Under this legislation, the government
can request that applications weaken encryption so that messages can be scanned
for prohibited subjects, such as child sexual abuse or terrorism.
Leading child protection charities such as
the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) have
long campaigned for this. The head of the charity, Richard Collard, said the
law would "make it a legal requirement for platforms to identify and stop
the sexual abuse of children happening on their sites and services."
End-to-end encryption protects messages by
ensuring that only the sender and recipient can read them. This means that when
the message reaches its destination, it cannot be read or tampered with by an
external entity, such as hackers.
Even WhatsApp cannot read messages sent
through its own service, so it cannot comply with requests from this new law,
and therefore may be banned in the United Kingdom.