Fight for privacy on Press Freedom Day
On World Press Freedom Day, more than 45 leading transportation email list privacy organizations are calling on governments to protect encryption, freedom of expression, press freedom, and other essential human rights.
Just as in autocratic countries, encryption – and thus our right to privacy – is under threat even in democratic countries: The UK's Online Security Act , the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act and the EARN IT Act in the US, as well as proposed rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse in the EU – also called chat control – are just some of the alarming examples of how democratic governments are trying to weaken encryption.
We must put an end to this worrying evolution of our democracies.
This open letter is being sent today to policymakers in the United States, the EU, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and India.
On World Press Freedom Day, we want to emphasize that encryption is necessary to keep our democracies free, not only for all citizens, but especially for journalists and whistleblowers.
“It is really worrying what is happening in some of the world’s largest democracies. Many policymakers believe they can have a ‘magic key’ to access encrypted communication, completely ignoring the technical facts: Encryption is either secure for everyone or broken for everyone,” says Matthias Pfau, co-founder of Tutanota. “If policymakers want a ‘magic key’, they will end up destroying the security of all citizens, including journalists and whistleblowers who rely on encryption to expose abuses of power or other societal wrongs. That is why we at Tutanota will never weaken our encryption. If governments make encryption illegal, they have to block access to our encrypted email service, as Russia and Iran are already doing.
