FTC warns tech giants not to bow to foreign pressure on encryption
Major American IT companies are being cautioned by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) not to comply with demands from foreign governments that violate encryption, erode data security, or impose censorship on their platforms.
The letter, which was issued to major American corporations like Akamai, Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Cloudflare, Discord, GoDaddy, Meta, Microsoft, Signal, Snap, Slack, and X (Twitter), was signed by FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson.
Ferguson emphasizes that it would be against the FTC Act and subject businesses to legal repercussions if foreign governments requested that data security be weakened, particularly if they failed to notify users of the request.
Ferguson's letter notably references international legislation, including the UK's Online Safety a...