WhatsApp has announced it would rather leave the UK market than have its end-to-end encryption messaging system undermined by the Online Safety Bill.

Will Cathcart, the company’s head, said it would not comply with the UK law if the bill weakened their encryption privacy methods.

This is the second instance of a major messaging company pushing back against the bill’s proposed encryption rules – Signal also claimed they would rather be banned than lessen their encryption.

The Online Safety Bill would not outright make it impossible to encrypt messages – however, the bill may force apps that use private encrypted-messaging to use certain technology to identify and remove child abuse material – therefore, messages would not be completely private.

While the UK government maintains that they can ensure privacy while protecting children, many critics remain unconvinced, saying the bill would give Ofcom too many regulatory powers and restrict the right to privacy.

According to OfCom, WhatsAPP is the most popular messaging app in the UK.

Further, Signal is often used by politicians, journalists, and celebrities specifically for its encryption and enhanced privacy assurances.

The Online Safety Bill has been through several trials and tribulations as it attempts to appease companies while protecting those most vulnerable in online spaces.

Most controversially, the Bill withdrew its more stringent ‘legal but harmful’ clause and replaced it with a triple shield system. More importantly, the change allowed companies to determine their own terms of service for they type of content they allow and prohibit, rather than the government or regulators restricting certain content across the board.

While Ofcom will still oversee companies to make sure they comply with their own terms of service or face heavy fines and even jail time, the bill allows companies to make their own rules- the specificity of which could allow for much legal flexibility.

Signal President Meredith Wittaker and Cathcart agreed on Twitter that they would need to work together to combat the bill’s encryption restrictions or walk away from the UK altogether.

“When a liberal democracy says, ‘Is it OK to scan everyone’s private communication for illegal content?’ that emboldens countries around the world that have very different definitions of illegal content to propose the same thing,” Mr Cathcart told the BBC.

The conundrum comes as online images of child abuse appear to be on the rise, according to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).

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Recently, the charity has also called against Meta encrypting its other messaging services on Instagram and Facebook, saying this would “make it impossible to identify grooming and the sharing of child sexual abuse images…”

“The Online Safety Bill should be seen as an opportunity to encourage companies to invest in technological solutions to end-to-end encryption that protect adult privacy and keep children safe,” the charity said.

Currently, messages would need to be scanned and viewed before the were encrypted in order to check for any harmful or illegal material, essentially negating the point of encryption in the first place.

With threats of major tech companies to walk from the UK, this may spell another major change for the language of the Online Safety Bill, and again brings to question how it is possible to regulate the online world at this late stage in its development.