Meta, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, has announced plans to effectively lock Facebook Messenger and Instagram direct messages using end-to-end encryption, a technology which keeps conversations secure, but can also make them inaccessible for anyone trying to keep them safe.
Home Secretary Priti Patel condemned Meta's encryption plans in the strongest possible terms, calling them"morally wrong and dangerous", and law enforcement agencies such as Interpol and the UK's National Crime Agency have criticised the technology.
However, officials argue that this does not mean apps and other services cannot be encrypted, saying that technologies exist that can give police forces access to the material they need without compromising privacy. Attempts by Apple to scan iPhone images for known child sexual abuse imagery were delayed last year after an outcry by privacy campaigners.
The announcement of the change to the legislation comes as police data obtained by the NSPCC showed what the charity described as a"tsunami of online child abuse".
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