James Wild MP calls on Facebook to change encryption plans and help tackle child abuse online.
Following the recent sentencing of an offender from King’s Lynn for 25 years for child sexual abuse offences who a judge called a “serial paedophile”, James Wild MP has written to Facebook urging them to change their proposed encryption plans for messenger services in order to protect children.
In his letter to Sir Nick Clegg, Facebook’s Vice President of Global Affairs and Communication, James highlights the warning from the National Crime Agency who led the investigation which led to the conviction of David Wilson on 96 charges and a sentence of 25 year. The NCA has warned that proposed end-to-end encryption changes would mean that similar offenders would likely go undetected.
Commenting on the letter, James Wild MP said:
“When Nick Clegg went to work in Silicon Valley, he said he would help Facebook navigate the challenges big tech companies face including the wellbeing of children. Now it is time to deliver on that pledge.
When the National Crime Agency and senior police officers are warning that Facebook’s plans for encryption risk seeing serious child abuse offenders go undetected, it has a responsibility to act and change its plans.”
Notes to Editors
- Text of letter:
Rt Hon Sir Nick Clegg
VP of Global Affairs and Communications
By email
Dear Sir Nick,
Tackling child abuse online
Last month serial paedophile David Wilson who lived in my North West Norfolk constituency was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to 96 child abuse offences against 52 boys. In sentencing Wilson, the Judge said that he had “carried out a lengthy and pre-mediated campaign of sadistic and manipulative abuse. Any normal human being listening to this case would be astonished by the level of depravity involved.”
I want to acknowledge and welcome the crucial role that Facebook played in bringing this dangerous offender to justice. The National Crime Agency (NCA) only opened its investigation after Facebook provided information identifying accounts of boys who had sent indecent images of themselves to an account seemingly belonging to a 13-year-old girl. As most of his crimes were committed on Facebook, these referrals were vital in securing the conviction. This is true of thousands of cases in the UK each year.
Therefore, I am very concerned that following this verdict the NCA called Facebook’s plans for end-to-end encryption on its messenger service “a disaster for child safety” that will “mean offenders like Wilson will likely go undetected because the company will no longer be able to see evidence of crimes and report them to global law enforcement.” Furthermore, the Chief Constable of Norfolk Police, who is the national policing lead for child protection, said they would make “it harder for us to prevent exploitation and find child sexual abusers like Wilson.”
While encryption is vital for protecting personal data, privacy, IP, and cyber security, precluding lawful access to content undermines a company’s own ability to identify illegal activity on its services and prevents law enforcement agencies from accessing content to investigate the most serious crimes.
I urge you to reconsider these plans and use Facebook’s vast resources to provide technical solutions to ensure that people committing such offences do not get away with. This risk is real - one of your colleagues told the Home Affairs Select Committee that she expected referrals would go down if these changes are implemented. To prevent this Facebook must enable law enforcement access to content where it is necessary and proportionate to tackle online sexual abuse and the most serious crimes.
It is time for Facebook to rethink its plans so that it can continue to play its pivotal role in tackling horrific child abuse.
Yours sincerely,
James Wild MP
