The U.K. Parliament is pushing ahead with a sprawling internet regulation bill that will, among other things, undermine the privacy of people around the world. The Online Safety Bill, now at the final stage before passage in the House of Lords, gives the British government the ability to force backdoors into messaging services, which will destroy end-to-end encryption. No amendments have been accepted that would mitigate the bill’s most dangerous elements. If it passes, the Online Safety Bill will be a huge step backwards for global privacy, and democracy itself.
“We’re not going to violate your privacy by opening your mail at the postal sorting center! We’re just going to switch from the old system, of posting your sealed letters into the post box, to a new system, of you handing your unsealed letters to a postal worker, who will read them and then seal and send them for you as long as they don’t find anything that matches a list of objectionable topics. Privacy protected! Now let’s not hear any more silliness about Big Brother!”