UK government to launch astroturf campaign against end-to-end encryption
Looks to turn public opinion against private communications
The UK government has hired a top advertising agency to persuade citizens that end-to-end encrypted (e2e) messaging services are dangerous, according to a report by Rolling Stone.
The publication submitted a FoI request about the rumoured ad campaign to the Home Office, which confirmed: "Under current plans, c.£534,000 is allocated for this campaign" which is being coordinated by M&C Saatchi.
The campaign is aimed at creating a groundswell of public opinion against e2e messaging apps, while giving the impression that the government is not directly involved.
It seeks to bring on board prominent children's charities, spreading the message through an "agreed list of media outlets", including The Sun, and "sofa programmes" such as Loose Women and This Morning.
The campaign will be launched in the next few days, according to the report, an immediate target being Facebook's plans to add e2e protections to Messenger.
The public is generally unaware of end-to-end encryption, according to a slide deck seen by Rolling Stone, which would make it fertile ground for such a campaign of persuasion.
The main focus of the content is child abuse, with depictions of interactions between a child and an adult stranger 'going dark'. This is also the main focus of the Online Safety Bill, which is currently working its way through the legislative process.
Privacy groups see the promotion of such as an emotive topic as a cover for justifying widespread government surveillance. The UK population is already among the most watched in the world.
Open Rights Group (ORG) said that banning encryption would be to using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, adding there are "many worrying provisions contained within the draft Online Safety Bill", that could "lead to the introduction of routine and perpetual surveillance" of online communications in the UK.
See also: Germany's new government vows to support end-to-end encryption while UK looks to undermine it
The Internet Society makes the point that, rather than being a threat, e2e messaging protects children from predators "by keeping the line of communication private between the sender and receiver", adding that any government-introduced back doors will inevitably be used by "bad guys" as well as law enforcement.
Meanwhile, multiple government officials have been subject to a stream of accusations and legal actions over their own use of e2e messaging services such as Signal and WhatsApp for conducting official government business, apparently in contravention of rules on transparency.