Security News > 2022 > January > Internet Society condemns UK's Online Safety Bill for demonising encryption using 'think of the children' tactic
Britain's controversial Online Safety Bill will leave Britons more exposed to internet harms than ever before, the Internet Society has said, while data from other countries suggests surveillance mostly isn't used to target child abusers online, despite this being a key cited rationale of linked measures.
Government efforts to depict end-to-end encryption as a harm that needs to be designed out of the internet as it exists today will result in "Fraud and online harm" increasing, the Internet Society said this week.
Founded by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, the Internet Society is one of the oldest and most well-respected institutions guiding the path of the public internet today.
Robin Wilton, the society's director of internet trust, said in a statement: "Today, encryption is an essential component of digitally connected objects like cars, doorbells, home security cameras and even children's toys, otherwise known as the 'Internet of Things'. It's also essential for national security by protecting highly sensitive systems like the power grid, citizen databases, and financial institutions such as the stock market."
Quoting government publicity around the Online Harms Bill, he added: "That is not the way to 'harness the benefits of a free, open and secure internet', it's a recipe for fraud and online harm."
More figures emerged tending to show that online surveillance tends to be used by Western governments against drugs gangs rather than child abusers, despite the Online Safety Bill and police campaigns claiming end-to-end encryption will turn social media into a paedophiles' paradise.