# Examples of large organizations fighting end-to-end encryption ## Direct efforts US Government - [2019-10 Attorney General William Barr sent a letter saying Facebook shouldn't implement E2E](https://web.archive.org/web/20191004011819/https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-barr-signs-letter-facebook-us-uk-and-australian-leaders-regarding-use-end). - [2021-07 European Parliament passed ePrivacy Derogation, which enables providers the ability to search individuals' private messages and report them to the police](https://web.archive.org/web/20210706174506/https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/chatcontrol-european-parliament-approves-mass-surveillance-of-private-communications/). - [2021-01 The FBI is legally allowed to gain a *lot* of private messaging data without a warrant](https://web.archive.org/web/20211130011549/https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21114562/jan-2021-fbi-infographic-re-lawful-access-to-secure-messaging-apps-data.pdf), and [regularly takes personal data from mobile phone providers](https://web.archive.org/web/20211025180217/https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21088576/march-2019-fbi-cast-cellular-analysis-geo-location-field-resource-guide.pdf). - [2021-10 The US government is secretly issuing "keyword warrants" for individuals' user data](https://web.archive.org/web/20211006063526/https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10063665/Government-orders-Google-track-searching-certain-names-addresses-phone-numbers.html). - [2022-06 The EARN-IT act threatens user encryption, which would affect *everyone*](https://web.archive.org/web/20220604203720/https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/earn-it-threatens-encryption-and-therefore-user-freedom). It [also won't resolve the issues it promises to fix](https://web.archive.org/web/20230420163614/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/earn-it-bill-back-again-seeking-scan-our-messages-and-photos). - [2023-03 The RESTRICT act can ban TikTok, but can also be used to ban many other privacy-enhancing services, such as VPNs](https://web.archive.org/web/20230329182155/https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a3ddb/restrict-act-insanely-broad-ban-tiktok-vpns). - [2023-07 A proposed Senate bill crafted with the DEA's help is targeting end-to-end encryption by requiring companies to report drug activity](https://web.archive.org/web/20230725064534/https://therecord.media/senate-dea-bill-targets-end-to-end-encryption-requires-companies-to-report-drugs). European Government - [2021-09 ProtonMail used E2E, but also had the IP address available to comply with the Swiss government's request](https://web.archive.org/web/20210907113333/https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/07/protonmail_hands_user_ip_address_police/), though [they won an appeal that an email provider isn't a "telecommunications provider" and don't have to hold on to user data as a result](https://web.archive.org/web/20211023160526/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/proton-wins-appeal-in-swiss-court-over-surveillance-laws/47052196). - [2021-11 As of July 6, the EU is now letting providers automatically search all private chats, messages, and emails generally and indiscriminately for anything related to child pornography](https://web.archive.org/web/20211104122422/https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/posts/messaging-and-chat-control/). - [2022-03 The EU will require Apple to completely open up iMessage for other services to use it](https://web.archive.org/web/20220325000007/https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/europe-dma-apple-imessage). - [2022-05 Britain's Online Safety Bill will terminate end-to-end encryption to clamp down on a vast variety of free speech](https://web.archive.org/web/20220616002406/https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/05/26/britain-should-scrap-its-online-safety-bill), and [it was passed 4 months later](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/09/today-uk-parliament-undermined-privacy-security-and-freedom-all-internet-users). - [2023-03 The European Commission's Chat Control Bill will remove end-to-end encryption, though they claim it won't](https://web.archive.org/web/20230328161325/https://mullvad.net/en/blog/2023/3/28/the-european-commission-does-not-understand-what-is-written-in-its-own-chat-control-bill/). Australia - [2022-07 Australia won't let people use encrypted apps, and the police must be permitted to access individuals' phones](https://web.archive.org/web/20220731183615/https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-08-01/blockade-australia-technology-bail-conditions-encrypted-apps/101277038). China - [2021-08 China's Great Firewall blocks about 3/4 of the internet's domains](https://www.usenix.org/system/files/sec21-hoang.pdf). - [2023-06 China will detect and block any encrypted traffic, even partially encrypted information](https://gfw.report/publications/usenixsecurity23/data/paper/paper.pdf). Non-Government - [2021-08 To combat "child exploitation", Apple is scanning all photos in iCloud and iMessage](https://web.archive.org/web/20210805200210/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/apples-plan-think-different-about-encryption-opens-backdoor-your-private-life), and [their system is very dangerous](https://web.archive.org/web/20220404041058/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/19/apple-csam-abuse-encryption-security-privacy-dangerous/) to where [thousands of people are concerned about it](https://web.archive.org/web/20210806102044/https://appleprivacyletter.com/). This is especially egregious considering how [they signaled their anti-tracking measures a few months prior](https://web.archive.org/web/20210108161415/https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/campaigns/apples-anti-tracking-plans-iphone/). - [2021-12 Many companies use spyware services like Drata to arbitrarily surveil employees](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29588054). ## Image distortion [2023-04 There are clear attempts by the US and UK to steer public opinion against encryption](https://web.archive.org/web/20230512150524/https://www.globalencryption.org/2023/04/statement-on-eu-us-cooperation-against-encryption/). [2023-05 India has banned Element, a client for the decentralized Matrix network, along with 13 other messaging apps](https://web.archive.org/web/20230505092909/https://element.io/blog/india-bans-flagship-client-for-the-matrix-network/). [2023-06 The French government has declared that users of most privacy software are potential terrorists](https://web.archive.org/web/20230605124741/https://www.laquadrature.net/en/2023/06/05/criminalization-of-encryption-the-8-december-case/). [2023-08 A new UK surveillance law may break international law](https://archive.is/20230822172358/https://www.justsecurity.org/87615/changes-to-uk-surveillance-regime-may-violate-international-law/).