Government funds charity campaign to warn big tech over the risks of encryption to children
Summary
The government is funding a campaign that will put pressure on Facebook and other tech companies over their plans to introduce encrypted messaging services, warning that millions of cases of child abuse could go undetected. No Place to Hide refers to figures from the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US, which shows that Facebook was the source of the highest number of child abuse reports, some 203 million, from electronic service providers – some 94% of the total in 2020. Jim Killock, executive director from Open Rights Group, claimed that the campaign may be designed to “soften up” public opinion prior to amendments to the Online Safety Bill currently going through Parliament. Section 4 of the draft Online Safety Bill gives the communications regulator Ofcom powers to issue “technology notices” that require social media companies to install “accredited equipment” to identify child abuse and terrorist content. The government also has powers to issue secret orders to force social media companies to install a “permanent capability” for the intelligence services and law enforcement to remotely access the contents of messages.
Classifications
AskAI Classifications
LabelsLinked Companies
