16m
3 Jul 2023

Online Safety Bill debate: Could it lead to ‘unprecedented paradigm-shifting surveillance’?

Presenter

Big tech is being taken to task by lawmakers across the world.

Accused of exposing children to harm, and using and abusing millions of people’s data, legislation is being brought in to regulate platforms like Facebook and Google.

Britain is in the vanguard, but its Online Safety Bill has attracted criticism from messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal, concerned that in the drive to protect users, privacy is being undermined.

We spoke to Meredith Whittaker, the president of the Signal Foundation, which runs an encrypted private messaging app, and Conservative MP Damian Collins, a former tech minister who played a key role in developing the Online Safety Bill.