US, allies urge FB to make encrypted messages accessible

SAN FRANCISCO: The US, Britain and Australia have called on Facebook to give authorities the ability to circumvent encryption used in its messaging services - a measure opposed by the social media giant.

Facebook has been dogged by several privacy scandals in recent years and has pledged to boost user protections by rolling out end-to-end encryption across all of its social media platforms.

But that plan risks weakening the ability of law enforcement to detect criminal acts including terrorism and child pornography, according to a joint letter signed by US Attorney General William Barr, British Home Secretary Priti Patel and Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.

“Facebook has not committed to address our serious concerns about the impact its proposals could have on protecting our most vulnerable citizens,” said the Thursday letter, addressed to company chief Mark Zuckerberg and seen by AFP.

ZUCKERBERG: BEING A BILLIONAIRE IS USEFUL

Zuckerberg, the fifth-richest person in the world, was asked by an employee to respond to an assertion by US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders that billionaires shouldn’t exist. Zuckerberg conceded that they probably shouldn’t. “No one deserves that much money,” Zuckerberg said. “I think if you do something that’s good, you get rewarded, but I do think some of the wealth that can be accumulated is unreasonable.” AGENCIES