“Many governments are neglecting or ignoring their duty to protect online encryption that helps ensure freedom of expression and privacy, the U.N. expert on freedom of expression said on Monday. In many states including Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and Britain, citizens cannot count on keeping their online conversations private, according to a report prepared for the U.N. Human Rights Council by special rapporteur David Kaye. There had been a surge in state restrictions on encryption in the past three years, Kaye wrote in a report submitted to a three-week session of the Council that began on Monday. ‘Since 2015, states have intensified their efforts to weaken encryption used in widely available communications products and services,’ the report said. It said pressure has been mounting for companies to install ‘backdoors’ in software to give law enforcement officials access to encrypted messages or secured devices, thereby giving hackers a potential vulnerability to exploit, even though governments already have many other investigative tools they could use.”
Source: States are flouting right to encrypted messaging: U.N. expert | Reuters