US Government Seeks Facebook Help To Wiretap Messenger, Report Says (reuters.com)

The U.S. government is trying to force Facebook to break the encryption in its popular Messenger app so law enforcement may listen to a suspect's voice conversations in a criminal probe, Reuters reported Friday, citing three people briefed on the case said, resurrecting the issue of whether companies can be compelled to alter their products to enable surveillance. From the report: The previously unreported case in a federal court in California is proceeding under seal, so no filings are publicly available, but the three people told Reuters that Facebook is contesting the U.S. Department of Justice's demand. The judge in the Messenger case heard arguments on Tuesday on a government motion to hold Facebook in contempt of court for refusing to carry out the surveillance request, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Comments

Also lazy

[ancientt]

The courts have the authority to compel people to testify and the authority to come into a place of business and gather evidence. I don't think it would be much of a stretch to force a company to allow government employees to alter code. That could happen and it should be something that is argued strenuously in the courts.

This kind of compulsion goes far beyond any reasonable argument. It's one thing to say the government can gather evidence or even take action in a private company. It's a whole different thing to try to compel a private citizen, or company who employs private citizens, to write software that goes against their best interest. It's really just tyranny, and lazy tyranny at that.