Despite strong opposition from governments in the UK and elsewhere, Meta recently said that it would implement end-to-end encryption in Facebook Messenger and Instagram by 2023. According to a report from Rolling Stone, the UK Home Office is planning an ad campaign to mobilize public opinion against end-to-end encryption.
M&C Saatchi, an advertising agency, is working with the UK government to create a public relations campaign. The goal of the campaign is to convey a message that end-to-end encryption could make it harder to fight child exploitation online.
A Home Office spokesman told Rolling Stone that they had engaged M&C Saatchi to bring together organizations who share their concerns about the impact end-to-end encryption would have on children's safety. The Home Office sent a letter to a freedom of information request stating that the government had allocated over half a million dollars for the campaign.
According to a slideshow designed to help it recruit non-profit coalition partners, the campaign may include elements designed to make the public "uneasy." A stunt with adult and child actors in a glass box fades to black. It involves a social media activation where parents are asked to write to Mark on their Facebook status.
One slide said that most of the public have never heard of end-to-end encryption, meaning they can be swayed on the subject. The government must not start a privacy vs safety debate.
Privacy advocates called the plans "scaremongering" and said that a lack of end-to-end encryption could have the opposite effect. Children are more vulnerable online without strong encryption. The Internet Society's Robin Wilton told Rolling Stone that the government's proposal puts everyone at risk.
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