WhatsApp could be banned in UK under encryption laws 

WhatsApp boss to the UK, EU has warned that legislative proposals may hamper people’s ability to communicate privately across the internet, reported 24NewsHD TV channel. 

According to western media reports, he said that WhatsApp could be banned in the UK if planned new legislation is pushed through.

Will Cathcart expressed his growing concerns about the upcoming Online Safety Bill and said the strict new rules could make the app unworkable in the UK. 

Cathcart said the company would not reduce its privacy settings and therefore Brits could be stopped from using WhatsApp.

The messaging app uses encryption to ensure that even it cannot read users' messages. But this could fall foul of the new laws if, for example, it was forced to scan messages for child abuse material.

Mr Cathcart said: "Our users all around the world want security - 98% of our users are outside the UK, they do not want us to lower the security of the product. We've recently been blocked in Iran, for example. We've never seen a liberal democracy do that.

"We won't lower the security of WhatsApp. We have never done that - and we have accepted being blocked in other parts of the world. When a liberal democracy says, 'Is it OK to scan everyone's private communication for illegal content?' that emboldens countries around the world that have very different definitions of illegal content to propose the same thing."

He added: "If companies installed software onto people's phones and computers to scan the content of their communications against a list of illegal content, what happens when other countries show up and give a different list of illegal content?"