According to security researchers, it is impossible to implement such a measure without breaking end-to-end encryption.
The UK’s new provision in its forthcoming online safety law requires tech companies to use “accredited technology” to scan user posts for child sexual abuse material, or CSAM.
Meta-owned WhatsApp has said it will exit the UK market if it is forced to weaken its end-to-end encryption for users under the upcoming online security law.
In a briefing with reporters, WhatsApp head Will Cathcart denounced the legislation as the most concerning set of online rules in the Western world, Wired reports.
“For example, we were recently blocked in Iran. But we’ve never seen a liberal democracy do that,” Cathcart said in reports.
“Ninety-eight percent of our users are outside the UK. It would be a strange choice for us to choose to lower the security of the product in a way that would affect 98 percent of users,” he said categorically.
Cathcart says he is concerned that the bill could make it more difficult for WhatsApp and other messaging platforms to provide end-to-end encryption.
“It’s hard to imagine us having this conversation about a liberal democracy that could bypass people’s ability to communicate privately,” he told reporters.
A provision in the Online Safety Bill requires technology companies to use “accredited technology” to scan user posts for child sexual abuse material or CSAM.
According to security researchers, it is impossible to implement such a measure without breaking end-to-end encryption.
In 2021, Apple introduced plans to scan user messages for CSAM, but shelved them after criticism from security researchers.
The Online Safety Bill also places the responsibility on big tech and companies not complying with the new rules could face fines of up to £18 million, or 10 per cent of their annual global turnover, whichever is higher.
New measures in the law include stricter and faster criminal penalties for tech bosses and new criminal offenses for falsifying and destroying data.
The Online Safety Act requires social media platforms, search engines, and other apps and websites for people to post their own content to protect children, address illegal activities, and enforce their stated terms.
“The bill will strengthen people’s rights to express themselves freely online and will ensure that social media companies do not abolish legal freedom of speech. For the first time, users have the right to appeal if they believe their post has been unfairly removed,” said former Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries last year.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and was published from a syndicated news agency feed)
