Facebook came under fire Friday from the head of the FBI, who claimed the company would make a “dream come true” for child pornographers by encrypting its users’ communications.
FBI Director Christopher A. Wray singled out the social networking company during an event held at Department of Justice headquarters, a “Lawful Access Summit” where the administration reiterated complaints about the proliferation of strong digital encryption and its consequences for criminal investigators.
Mr. Wray said it was “incredibly concerning” that the company plans to make all communications on Facebook and Instagram end-to-end-encrypted, which would effectively prevent authorities from being able to view the content of messages obtained through a warrant or other court order.
“It will prevent Facebook from providing content to law enforcement in response to legal process — the content we need to actually find who and where a victim is,” said Mr. Wray, adding that Facebook is responsible for 90 percent of the 18 million referrals received annually the by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
“Facebook would transform from the main provider of child exploitation tips to a dream come true for predators and child pornographers — a platform that allows them to find and connect with kids, and like-minded criminals, with little fear of consequences,” Mr. Wray said. “A lawless space created not by the American people, or their elected officials, but by the owners of one big company.”
Facebook did not immediately return a message requesting comment.
Leaders of the FBI have long complained about being unable to access digital evidence protected by strong security, notably when the Justice Department sued Apple in early 2016 to try to compel the company into cracking technology that prevented authorities from viewing data stored on a suspected terrorist’s smartphone.
The Justice Department dropped the lawsuit against Apple after contracting the services of a third-party security company, and similar firms continue to offer smartphone-cracking services to government clients at a cost.
Facebook announced in March that it planned to implement end-to-end encryption for all communications across its platforms, which together boasts more than 2 billion monthly active users.
Communications that are encrypted end-to-end are transmitted in a way that makes them difficult for a third party to decipher. Their content is encrypted using digital keys unique to the individuals communicating, meaning not even the platform used — such as one of Facebook’s messaging services, for example — would be able to log an end-to-end encrypted conversation and accordingly provide relevant information to authorities.
“Messages and calls are some of the most sensitive private conversations people have, and in a world of increasing cyber security threats and heavy-handed government intervention in many countries, people want us to take the extra step to secure their most private data,” Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the time. “That seems right to me, as long as we take the time to build the appropriate safety systems that stop bad actors as much as we possibly can within the limits of an encrypted service.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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