Britain urged Meta not to roll out end-to-end encryption on Instagram and Facebook Messenger without safeguards to protect children from sexual abuse after the Online Safety Bill was passed by parliament.
Meta, which already encrypts messages on WhatsApp, plans to implement end-to-end encryption in Messenger and Instagram direct messages, saying the technology will strengthen safety and security.
British Home Secretary Suella Braverman said she supports strong encryption for online users, but this should not come at the expense of children’s safety.
“Meta has failed to provide guarantees that they will protect their platforms from sickening abusers,” she said. “They must develop appropriate safeguards alongside their plans for end-to-end encryption.”
A spokesperson for Meta said: “The vast majority of Britons already rely on apps that use encryption to protect them from hackers, fraudsters and criminals.
“We don’t think people want us to read their private messages, so over the past five years we’ve developed robust security measures to prevent, detect and combat abuse, while maintaining online safety.”
It said it would update on Wednesday on the measures it has taken, such as limiting messages sent to teens who don’t follow them and using technology to identify and take action against malicious behavior.
“As we roll out end-to-end encryption, we expect to continue to provide more reports to law enforcement than our peers, thanks to our industry-leading work to keep people safe,” the spokesperson said.
Social media platforms will face stricter requirements to protect children from accessing harmful content when the online safety bill passed by parliament on Tuesday becomes law.
End-to-end encryption is a point of contention between companies and the government in the new law.
Messaging platforms led by WhatsApp are pushing back against a provision they say could force them to break end-to-end encryption.
However, the government has said the bill does not ban the technology, but instead requires companies to take action to stop child abuse and, as a last resort, develop technology to scan encrypted messages.
Technology companies have said that message scanning and end-to-end encryption are fundamentally incompatible.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
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