The reason for such a harsh statement was that the new law had every chance to undermine the service’s underlying end-to-end encryption. For example, the proposed bill would require WhatsApp to implement a content moderation policy that would be impossible to enforce without removing end-to-end encryption.
Moreover, if WhatsApp refuses to do so, the company faces a fine of up to 4% of its parent company’s annual turnover.
In connection with all of the above, Cathcart stated that it will not weaken the encryption of WhatsApp as this will affect all users and compromise security.
Therefore, the company is more likely to accept the fact that it will be blocked in the UK and leave the country market. It’s worth noting that the messenger’s departure could potentially impact millions of users, as it is the most popular messaging platform in the country.
Source: Ferra
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