Tech

Meta’s Biggest Encrypted Messaging Mistake Was Its Promise


Since the 1990s, Governments around the world often use child welfare as an excuse for all kinds of internet policy violations: encryption backdoors, centralized censorship mechanisms, and anti-anonymity measures. So when Meta, facing pressure from governments as well as NGOs, announced its decision last week to delay implementation of end-to-end encryption for messaging systems like Instagram DM and Messenger — citing the stated safety of children — privacy advocates were annoyed and suspicious. But speaking as someone who worked on safety and security at Facebook, I don’t see the delay as an arbitrary political decision. Concerns about the safety of young users are correct, and the problems are widespread, especially when it comes to complex social systems like those at Meta.

Disappointing as it can be, the company’s delay may be justifiable. Some form end-to-end encryption should be made available to everyone, to protect the right to private communications and to prevent government intrusion. But end-to-end encryption isn’t just an issue or technology — it’s a series of policy decisions and use cases with high stakes consequences. Therefore, creating the right environment for its use is a complex task. The need for end-to-end encryption, as well as the conditions needed to securely deploy it, vary for each platform, and apps like Facebook and Instagram still require serious changes before when it can be introduced without affecting functionality or posing a safety risk. Meta’s biggest mistake isn’t this latest delay but the timeline, and possibly even the outcome it promised.

Then the first Facebook announced a timeline for rolling out interoperable end-to-end encryption across all of its products in 2019, it’s not immediately possible was clear. The proposed timeline is so fast that even a production of the technology would be impossible, with safety mechanisms barely coming into the picture. Systems like WhatsApp already have end-to-end encryption and unknown content the mechanism detects certain types of harm, and it is expected that this would easily translate to other Facebook properties.

However, apps and websites like Facebook and Instagram are completely different in architecture and dynamics than WhatsApp. Both implement direct messaging along with systems that actively try to connect you with people, stemming from a combination of reading the user’s phone book, algorithmically identifying accounts similarity based on location, interests and friends, and general online activity. In the case of Facebook, large public or private groups also facilitate expanding a person’s social graph, along with a global search of all accounts and grouping by organizations such as schools. . While apps like WhatsApp and Signal work like private direct messaging between known contacts, Facebook and Instagram’s evolving design leads to situations where abusers can easily It is easier to find new victims, identities and relationships are accidentally revealed, and a large number of strangers are mixed together.

These fundamental differences mean that before Meta can safely move all of its platforms to end-to-end encryption, its applications must undergo a number of important changes. First, the company must improve its existing content non-forgetable harm reduction mechanisms. This involves using social graphs to spot users who are trying to rapidly expand their network or target people of certain demographics (e.g. people at a certain age). specific declared or inferred age) and look for other potentially problematic patterns in the metadata. These mechanisms can work in tandem with user reporting preferences and proactive notifications, such as users being provided with secure messages informing them of abuse reporting options, along with efficient reporting flows to enable them to report to the platform operator. While these types of features are beneficial with or without end-to-end encryption, they become significantly more important when the ability to inspect content is removed.

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