Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Jul 27, 2025

MI5 Chief Slams Facebook Over Encryption, Says Gives "Free Pass" To Suspects

MI5 Chief Slams Facebook Over Encryption, Says Gives "Free Pass" To Suspects

Facebook's plan to roll out end-to-end encryption across all its platforms gives offenders "a free pass where they know that nobody can see into what they are doing in those private living rooms", MI5 chief said.
Extremism on social media is as much a national security risk now as terrorism from Afghanistan or Syria, the head of UK domestic intelligence has warned as he slammed Facebook in particular.

"Self-initiated terrorists" -- UK authorities' preferred term for "lone wolves" -- remain a bigger threat than plots on the scale of 9/11 or the "7/7" attacks of July 2005 on London, MI5 chief Ken McCallum told Times Radio in an interview aired Friday.

He said that in the past four years, MI5 and London's Metropolitan Police anti-terrorism command have disrupted 29 "late-stage" plots, including 10 by far-right white extremists.

Suspects have been as young as 13, usually after being radicalised online.

"It is the case, especially around default encryption, that yes, decisions taken in California boardrooms are every bit as relevant to our ability to do our jobs as decisions taken in Afghanistan or Syria," McCallum said.

"That does pose a real risk for us."

The MI5 chief said he "could not agree more" with Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg's stated desire to protect privacy.

"We absolutely do not want to live in a society where the state has a camera in everyone's living room," he said.

"But our job is to deal with a one-in-a-million case, where the living room is a terrorist living room. And they may be building a bomb, or filming a martyrdom video before some ... devastating plot that they might be planning."

In that scenario or in cases of online child sexual abuse, Facebook's plan to roll out end-to-end encryption across all its platforms gives offenders "a free pass where they know that nobody can see into what they are doing in those private living rooms", he added.

It was McCallum's first interview since taking over last year at Britain's domestic counterpart to the foreign intelligence agency MI6, the employer of fictional superspy James Bond.

He has been leading a drive to open up the secret state a touch, launching an official account on Facebook-owned Instagram for MI5 a month ago which now counts 113,000 followers.

McCallum has 25 years' experience in the security service, and oversaw counter-terrorism operations before and during the 2012 London Olympics.

He also led the probe into the 2018 chemical weapon attack in Salisbury that was blamed on Russian agents.

Asked to name his favourite Bond actor, the Glasgow-born spy said he would choose fellow Scotsman Sean Connery but plumped for the soon-to-depart Daniel Craig.

However, pressed to identify any real-world relevance from the world of Bond for Britain's intelligence agencies, McCallum said "I would struggle to think of it".
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
×