Backdoors, encryption and internet surveillance: Which way now?

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The UK government has once again raised the issue of online surveillance and internet regulation. But it’s unclear exactly what the Conservatives want to do, while cybersecurity experts accuse the government of naivety in its current approach.

“We cannot allow this ideology the safe space it needs to breed — yet that is precisely what the internet, and the big companies that provide internet-based services provide,” said Prime Minister Theresa May, following the recent terrorist attacks in Manchester and London. “We need to work with allied democratic governments to reach international agreements to regulate cyberspace to prevent the spread of extremist and terrorism planning,” May added.

A similar statement appeared in a section of the Conservative Party manifesto for the recent election, which resulted in a hung parliament: “Some people say that it is not for government to regulate when it comes to technology and the internet. We disagree,” it read. However, there’s little clarity on what the new minority government intends to do: that will have to wait for the Queen’s Speech, which is due next week. Another factor is whether, lacking an overall majority, the government will want to expend limited political capital on this controversial topic.

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