The U.K. Parliament is close to passing the Online Safety Bill, which threatens global privacy by allowing backdoors into messaging services, compromising end-to-end encryption. Despite objections, no amendments were accepted. The bill also includes content filtering and surveillance measures. There’s still a chance for lawmakers to protect privacy with an amendment preserving encryption. A recent survey shows the majority of U.K. citizens want strong privacy on messaging apps.
No, but the tech companies/orgs/individuals that provide such platforms potentially have global reach. If they comply to the UK demands, they may decide it’s easier to do it everywhere. It also sets up precedents for other countries to follow suit.