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The new law in the UK could see thousands of WhatsApp users banned forever

The new law in the UK could see thousands of WhatsApp users banned forever

Britons are on the verge of losing access to WhatsApp amid a row with the UK government. WhatsApp, the UK's most popular messaging app, uses end-to-end encryption (E2EE) which is being reformed under a new set of laws. End-to-end encryption is a security feature that encrypts messages so that even the company running the service cannot view the content. Under the Internet Security Bill, the government is looking to give tech companies oversight of encrypted messages.

The new law in the UK could see thousands of WhatsApp users banned forever

But WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart has said he would rather be blocked in the UK than weaken the app's security. He told BBC News:

"Our users around the world want security 98% of our users are outside the UK, they don't want us to lower the security of the product. We've been blocked recently in Iran, for example. We've never seen a liberal democracy to do so."

The new law in the UK could see thousands of WhatsApp users banned forever

Despite Cathcart's concern that a change in UK laws could encourage other countries to follow suit, he and others in the tech space have refused to budge. Cathcart adds:

"We will not lower the security of WhatsApp. We have never done that and we have accepted being blocked in other parts of the world."

When a liberal democracy says:

"Is it good to scan everyone's private communication for illegal content?" which encourages countries around the world that have very different definitions of illegal content to propose the same.

The new law in the UK could see thousands of WhatsApp users banned forever

The move would cause quite a stir, with WhatsApp being used by roughly one in seven people in the UK. WhatsApp is not the only app that has threatened to leave the UK if the rule comes into force. Signal president Meredith Whittaker previously told BBC News that it would "absolutely, 100%" go ahead and stop providing services in the UK if required by law to weaken the privacy of its encrypted messaging system. Whittaker also tweeted that he was looking forward to working with Cathcart and others to "push back" against the policy.

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