Safety law likely to shut UK WhatsApp services, says Will Cathcart

WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging service, could be forced to stop offering its services in the UK if the country passes the current draft of an online safety law, its head said Thursday. 

The Online Safety Bill before Parliament could effectively make the service’s privacy features illegal, WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart told reporters on Thursday at the London offices of its parent, Meta Platforms. The messenger won’t change its encryption standards, he said. “It’s a global product; there isn’t a way to change it in just one part of the world,” Cathcart said. “We’ve recently been blocked in Iran, for example. We’ve never seen a liberal democracy do that.”

The bill, introduced by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is an attempt to force internet companies to remove illegal content such as child sexual abuse or terrorism. However, critics including Meta have said scanning for such content would be incompatible with the end-to-end encryption that is a common protection offered by messenger apps.