Government’s generally aren’t fans of end-to-end encryption (E2EE) as it means they can’t keep tabs on what folks are saying to each other online.
For the most part however, governments have allowed technology firms to implement E2EE mostly because, well, unless they’re going to create laws which forbid it, there’s not really much they can do.
That isn’t the case when it comes to the UK government seemingly as reports suggest lawmakers are fed up with citizens having private conversations.
As Rolling Stone reports, the UK government is planning a PR blitz against – among others – Facebook’s decision to implement E2EE in its Messenger app.
How does the government plan to do this? By tugging on your heartstrings and begging you to think of the children.
“According to documents reviewed by Rolling Stone, one [of] the activities considered as part of the publicity offensive is a striking stunt — placing an adult and child (both actors) in a glass box, with the adult looking ‘knowingly’ at the child as the glass fades to black. Multiple sources confirmed the campaign was due to start this month, with privacy groups already planning a counter-campaign,” writes Rolling Stone.
The UK government is reportedly working with M&C Saatchi to spread the message that encryption is bad as it allows ne’er-do-wells do hide their activities.
“We have engaged M&C Saatchi to bring together the many organisations who share our concerns about the impact end-to-end encryption would have on our ability to keep children safe,” said a spokesperson for the UK Home Office.
Following a Freedom of Information request it was revealed that £534 000 has been earmarked for this campaign.
What makes this all the more scummy is that it appears that the government will be publishing a press release in which it will be made to appear as if children’s charities and stakeholders have come together of their own accord to put child safety first and stop E2EE.
Furthermore, certain media outlets will be tapped up to spread the message including the likes of The Sun and the TV show Loose Women.
What the UK government doesn’t seem to understand however, is that without E2EE, the potential for its own confidential messages to be leaked increases. Of course, that’s assuming Facebook would even go to the trouble of bowing to the UK’s demands.
We’ve seen in the past that Facebook is not afraid to call a government’s bluff and remove it’s services from a region. While the UK plans to tug on Zuckerberg’s heartstrings as a father rather than as the founder of the largest social media platform on the planet, we doubt that will work.
Yes E2EE can help ne’er-do-wells hide their questionable activities but for the majority of people it stops those same people from compromising their accounts.
The UK government is quite simply fear mongering, and we hope this PR campaign is dragged through the mud as it should be.
[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]
