'Would rather be blocked': WhatsApp refuses to weaken security in UK

The head of Meta’s WhatsApp messaging service has entered a row over the platform's end-to-end encryption with the UK government. The company has said it would rather be blocked in the UK than undermine its encrypted-messaging system. The head of the platform, Will Cathcart, has refused to tamper with the privacy of encrypted messages under the Online Safety Bill.

End-to-end encryption ensures that the messages aren't visible even to the company running the service. Under the Online Safety Bill, private encrypted-messaging apps and other services will need to adopt "accredited technology" to identify and remove child-abuse material. Cathcart says this will undermine the privacy of Whatsapp for everyone in the UK.

"Our users all around the world want security - 98% of our users are outside the UK, they do not want us to lower the security of the product," he said, adding that they would rather be blocked than give in.

"We've recently been blocked in Iran, for example. We've never seen a liberal democracy do that," he added.

Earlier, the app Signal also stood up against the bill saying they could stop providing services in the UK if they were required to scan messages.

Signal president Meredith Whittaker had told BBC that it "would absolutely, 100% walk". She added that she was looking forward to working with Cathcart and others to push back the bill in the UK if asked to weaken the privacy of its encrypted messaging system.

"We won't lower the security of WhatsApp. We have never done that - and we have accepted being blocked in other parts of the world," Cathcart told BBC.

We feel the same. And very important we work together (and honored to get to do so) to push back.https://t.co/PhP8Iz2GxW — Will Cathcart (@wcathcart) March 2, 2023

The argument in favour of the bill is that encryption affects efforts to combat the growing problem of online child abuse. Governments and child-protection groups have cited the issue several times. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) says grooming and child-abuse-image crimes have seen a dramatic rise in the UK.

(With inputs from agencies)

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