Britain is expected to be the first country in the world to block the instant messaging application WhatsApp, due to its refusal to comply with a new law aimed at preventing social networks from being used for illegal acts, including violations of the rights of children.
Britain is seeing widespread controversy over a new law that could lead to a ban on the ‘WhatsApp’ application, along with a number of similar applications, as hardly any phones in Britain are without this application, which has become the first communication tool in the country, and has become more widely used than traditional telephone lines.
According to a report published by the British newspaper ‘Daily Mail’ and viewed by Al Arabiya.net, the ‘WhatsApp’ application is at risk of being banned in the UK, under a bill that forces tech companies to look for illegal content that is being distributed through private social media platforms.
Opponents of the law say it could mean doing away with “full end-to-end encryption,” a security feature that scrambles messages to ensure only the sender and recipient can read them.
According to an open letter signed by a number of messaging app companies, the law could lead to undermining the privacy of billions of people around the world. The companies added, “We don’t believe any company, government or person should have the ability to read your personal messages, and we will continue to defend encryption technology.”
The companies that own the messaging services have signed an open letter against the Online Security Bill before its final reading in the House of Lords.
The companies say end-to-end encryption is “one of the strongest possible defenses” against threats such as online fraud, fraud and data theft.
The petitioners also claim that it is “UK Internet”, which already contains a special version of weak security, which should comply with fixes, not messaging and communication applications.
The company “Meta”, which owns the “WhatsApp” application, explicitly stated last month that it will refuse to comply with the online security law.
Speaking ahead of a meeting with lawmakers in Britain to discuss the proposed law, WhatsApp director Will Cathcart described the bill as one of the most troubling pieces of legislation currently under discussion in the Western world. Last September, he openly said it was “bewildering” that governments would want to undermine security in this way, not improve it.
WhatsApp currently cannot see messages sent through its service and therefore cannot comply with law enforcement requests to hand them over for anti-terrorism purposes or to identify and remove child sexual abuse material, for example. But the British government insists that it is possible to have privacy while ensuring the safety of children.
The online safety bill has made its way through parliament since it was published as a draft in May 2021. Supporters say it is designed to help crack down on online phishing and illegal forms of pornography by holding platforms more accountable than users. Internet they have .
As part of this, it allows the UK government or communications regulator Ofcom to require companies to check the contents of messages sent through their platforms for illegal content.
The government has insisted that the bill “does not constitute a ban on end-to-end encryption” and that “we can and must” ensure both the privacy and safety of children.
But opponents of the law say it doesn’t explicitly say how message content can be monitored and kept encrypted, creating a “gray area”.
The open letter states: “The bill does not provide explicit cryptographic protections and, if implemented as written, could allow TRA to attempt to force proactive scanning of private messages on end-to-end encrypted communication services, nullifying the purpose of end-to-end – to end encryption and threaten the privacy of all users.” “.
Element CEO Matt Hodgson, who also signed the letter, said his company’s ability to serve customers is threatened by the law. “The UK wants its own access to end-to-end encryption systems,” he said.
