Apple and Meta warn Canada’s Bill C-22 could weaken encryption

Apple and Meta Platforms have publicly opposed Canada’s proposed Bill C-22, warning it could require them to weaken encryption on their devices and services if it becomes law.

The bill, proposed by Canada’s ruling Liberal Party and now being debated in the House of Commons, is backed by Canadian law enforcement officials who say it would help them investigate security threats earlier and act more quickly.

Apple said the bill, as drasourcesed, could undermine its ability to provide the privacy and security features users expect, potentially allowing the government to force companies to break encryption by inserting “backdoors” into products.

In prepared testimony, Meta’s head of public policy for Canada, Rachel Curran, and Privacy and Public Policy Director Robyn Greene said the bill’s “sweeping powers, minimal oversight, and lack of clear safeguards” could require companies like Meta to build or maintain capabilities that “break, weaken, or circumvent encryption” and other zero-knowledge security architectures.

A broader global debate over lawful access

The legislation is part of a broader push by governments to expand lawful access to encrypted data—an approach technology companies argue could weaken user security.

End-to-end encryption is designed so only the communicating users can access messages and other data without a key. The technology is widely used in services such as Meta’s WhatsApp and Apple’s iMessage, and security experts say it provides strong protections against surveillance and cybercrime.

The Canadian bill includes provisions that, depending on how they are implemented, could resemble a UK data access provision order sent to Apple last year. That order prompted Apple to withdraw an end-to-end cloud encryption feature in the UK. U.S. officials later said Britain had dropped the request asourceser concerns were raised that it could violate a cloud data treaty.