Facebook has given terrorists a “free pass” by allowing stronger encryption on its network, the head of MI5 has said in his first criticism of Mark Zuckerberg’s company.
Ken McCallum said that the social media giant’s plans to install end-to-end encryption would block hundreds of counterterrorism investigations by the Security Service.
He told Times Radio: “Decisions taken in California boardrooms are every bit as relevant to our ability to do our jobs as decisions taken in Afghanistan or Syria.”
He also said that hostile states and others had tried to interfere in the “Westminster village” by attempting to influence ministers, MPs and political candidates.
In his first interview McCallum, 46, said that Zuckerberg’s privacy plans for Messenger and Instagram meant that terrorists could send illegal