Braverman writes to Zuckerberg expressing concern over Meta's encryption plans

Suella Braverman said she wrote a letter to Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg expressing concern about the company's plans to introduce end-to-end encryption without protections appropriate for children.< /p>

The Home Secretary spoke in the Commons about the vital role tech companies such as Meta play in supporting UK law enforcement, revealing that information provided by these platforms help protect approximately 1,200 children each month.

However, she insisted that Meta's plans could hamper efforts to proactively detect and report instances of hardware. grooming and abuse of children on Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct, saying, "This will be a huge boon to anyone who wants to hurt a child. ."

The WhatsApp meta-owned messaging app already offers end-to-end encryption by default, which prevents anyone other than the sender and recipient of a message from accessing its content.

Online safety bill will hold tech companies to account, but indifference to abuse is intolerable

The social media giant plans to add the functionality to Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct chats later this year.

Speaking during Home Office Questions, Ms Braverman said : "The information Meta and other tech companies give to UK law enforcement helps protect around 1,200 children and leads to more than 100 arrests of suspected child molesters each month.

"But Meta plans to roll out unprotected end-to-end encryption soon.

"They will no longer proactively detect and alert authorities about hardware grooming and abuse. children on Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct.

"This will be a huge boon for anyone who wants to hurt a child.

We remain committed to working with law enforcement and child safety experts as we deploy the end-to-end encryption

“The online security bill will hold tech companies to account, but the indifference to abuse is intolerable.

"I have written to Mark Zuckerberg, as well as the Minister of Security (Tom Tugendhat), children's charities, campaign groups to describe our...