By MARK SCOTTMARCH 27, 2017

By MARK SCOTTMARCH 27, 2017
British government officials will meet with representatives of American technology companies this week to demand
that they do more to help in the fight against terrorism and online hate speech, the latest move in a widening global push against encryption technology that blocks access to the private messages of criminal and innocent users alike.
Tech companies and digital rights advocates have said
that such efforts would infringe on human rights because providing the authorities with access to such messaging services would require weakening their overall levels of encryption.
“Compelling companies to put back doors into encrypted services would make millions of ordinary people
less secure online,” said Jim Killock, executive director of Open Rights Group, a British nonprofit.
“We do want them to recognize that they have a responsibility to engage with government, to engage with law enforcement
agencies when there is a terrorist situation,” Ms. Rudd told the BBC on Sunday, referring to tech companies.
If such technology is weakened, campaigners say, governments
and hackers could gain access to encrypted messages, reducing people’s ability to communicate privately online.