UK Government Warns Meta Not To Implement End-to-end Encryption For Messenger and Instagram

LONDON: Britain urged Meta not to introduce end-to-end encryption on Instagram and Facebook Messenger without safeguards to protect children from sexual exploitation after Parliament passed an online safety bill.

Meta, which already encrypts messages on WhatsApp, plans to introduce end-to-end encryption on Messenger and Instagram direct messages, saying the technology will strengthen safety and security.

British Home Secretary Suella Braverman said she supported strong encryption for online users, but it could not come at the expense of children’s safety.

“Meta has failed to provide assurances that they will keep their platform safe from sick abusers,” he said. “They need to develop appropriate safeguards to keep up with their plans for end-to-end encryption.”

A Meta spokesperson said: “The vast majority of Brits 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 they’ve spent the last five years developing robust security measures to prevent, detect and combat abuse to keep the internet safe.”

It said it would announce Wednesday the measures it is taking, including preventing those over 19 from messaging teenagers who don’t follow them and using technology to identify and act on harmful behavior.

“As we implement end-to-end encryption, we still expect to deliver more reports to law enforcement than our peers as we lead our industry to keep people safe,” the spokesperson said.

Social media platforms will face stricter requirements to protect children from accessing harmful content when the online security law approved 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, oppose the rule, which they say will force them to break end-to-end encryption.

However, the government has said the law does not ban the technology, but instead requires companies to take steps to stop child abuse and, as a last resort, to develop technology to scan encrypted messages.

Tech companies have said that message scanning and end-to-end encryption are fundamentally incompatible.