Social network giant Facebook is once again in the spotlight because of privacy concerns. However, it seems that this time the narrative is no longer following the old scripts. Managers of the social media company are calling for tough messaging encryption with the law enforcement wanting back door access to access platform's content.
The current issue is a win for Facebook shareholders, according to Forbes. Since 2016, company stakeholder and leaders have been under attack. In the months leading to the election up to the voting period, the social media site transformed into a sinkhole of carious disinformation campaigns. In October, US department Atty. Gen William Barr, Australian Minister of Home Affairs Peter Dutton, and UK Home Secretary Priti Patel wrote a letter to Mark Zuckerberg.
The letter claims that tough end to end encryption on Facebook would make it more difficult to find sexual predators and other bad actors. The authorities would like to link messaging with abundant online profiles. In short, the letters call to end actual online privacy.
Facebook and Zuckerberg responded like privacy warriors in their response, according to Forbes. Creating a backdoor would make everyone on the social media platform less secure, according to Facebook product managers Will Cathcart of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger's Stan Chudnovsky. The managers argue that opening the door to friendly governments would invite other, probably authoritative, or repressive states to request access.
Just a month after the letter of Barr, Patel, and Dutton arrived at Facebook, an internal meeting of the company executives was leaked on The Verge. Based on the recording, Zuckerberg argued about privacy because 'it is the right thing to do.' A phrase that eerily sounds familiar and something we have heard before from Apple CEO Tim Cook.
In September, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, announced its plan to encrypt data at the browser level. This new protocol would make it extremely difficult for Internet service providers to monitor users, according to The Wall Street Journal. Search engine giant Google collaborated with another browser company Mozilla. The idea is currently being opposed by cable providers, politicians, and other wireless companies.
A privacy fight for all the world to witness puts Facebook in the spotlight, which could be a good thing for investors. In terms of politics, the social network giant has a very rough ride since 2016. But, analysts think that it might get worse. Two months ago, 47 state attorneys general signed to investigate possible antitrust violations of the company.
