The British government has focused on child abuse for some time now. Naturally, he wants to make regulations on the subject and prevent this situation. One of the options on the table is the ability to scan messages in messaging applications such as WhatsApp. WhatsApp, the number one interlocutor of the subject, strongly opposed this idea.
WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart gave an interview on the subject. Answering the BBC’s questions, Cathcart said: “If we had to reduce security at the behest of a single government, it would be very foolish of us to accept that. This would make our product less attractive to 98% of our users due to the 2% requirements.” said. According to Will Cathcart, the end-to-end encryption feature in the app will be protected forever.
The European Union is making a similar request.
In fact, not only the British government, but also the European Union wants to activate WhatsApp against child abuse. The European Commission, in its previous statements, “WhatsApp must detect, report, block and remove child abuse.” he said. Speaking about this, Cathcart said, “What is recommended is that we read everyone’s messages, either directly or indirectly through software. I don’t think people want that.” said.
The WhatsApp boss said that the application has already detected hundreds of thousands of child sexual abuse images, that they use special techniques for this and that they are advanced in this regard. However, the Child Torture Prevention Association (NSPCC) has opposed this defense. Saying that end-to-end encryption is a “cloak”, the officials of the association stated that with end-to-end encryption, only adults are focused, and what needs to be done is to work covering all parts of the society.
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