According to media reports, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, Meta has plans to make end-to-end encryption (E2EE) the default system for all personal calls and messages.
However, the UK’s home secretary, Priti Patel, has written in an op-ed for The Telegraph this week, saying it would be a “grotesque betrayal” if the company didn’t consider issues of child safety while introducing E2EE.
Patel has urged Meta to introduce measures to protect children from online abuse before encrypted messaging is extended on the platforms, later this year, reports The Verge.
“A great many child predators use social media platforms such as Facebook to discover, target, and sexually abuse children,” writes Patel in her op-ed.
She adds, “It is vital that law enforcement have access to the information they need to identify the children in these images and safeguard them from vile predators.”
End-to-end encryption, where messages are accessed and read only by the sender and recipient is already used on the messaging app, WhatsApp, which is also owned by Meta, informs Sky News.
E2EE is reported to be a security feature to protect personal data and privacy.
However, critics, including Patel have raised concerns that the police and Meta would not be able to flag harmful or worrying content, Sky News informs.
She fears the move will prevent police from investigating child abuse.
Writing in the Telegraph, Patel is quoted as saying, "The consequences of inadequate protections - especially for end-to-end encrypted social media platforms - would be catastrophic.
"These protections need to be in place before end-to-end encryption is rolled out around the world," she said.
According to The National, Patel has stated that global tech companies have reported more than 29 million suspected cases of child sexual abuse on their platforms.
She adds, UK law enforcement deals with about 800 suspects every month.
“If I were to describe the content of some of this filth, you would be deeply distressed. Technology companies need to recognise their moral responsibility to keep children safe,” she states.
While urging the tech giant to work with the Home Office to introduce protections, the home secretary insists "a way forward can be found.”
She adds, "It would be completely unacceptable - indeed a grotesque betrayal - for anyone to say this is all too difficult or that it doesn't really matter.
"But while some things are more important than profits, it is actually in the financial interests of technology companies that the public should have confidence that their products and services will not be used to hurt children."
In response to Patel suggesting scanning of conversations as proposed by the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) to reduce the prevalence of child sexual abuse online, a Meta spokesman reportedly said, "We have no tolerance for child exploitation on our platforms and are focused on solutions that do not require the intrusive scanning of people's private conversations.
“We want to prevent harm from happening in the first place, not just detect it after the fact. We continue to work with outside experts and law enforcement to help keep people safe online."
Damian Talbot