
Bill Gates advocates for stopping end-to-end encryption - kiki_jiki
https://reclaimthenet.org/bill-gates-end-to-end-encryption/
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nikhizzle
Is this real news? I see no mentions of primary sources, and when I do a
google search I find some much older articles with much more context and
nuance.

I’m not sure I believe this in any way. It is taking quotes out of context,
and creating an exaggeration.

~~~
crmrc114
So clicking the wired link in the post then doing ctrl+f I found where they
are getting this from [https://www.wired.com/story/bill-gates-on-covid-most-
us-test...](https://www.wired.com/story/bill-gates-on-covid-most-us-tests-are-
completely-garbage/)

I think wired is generally not out there trying to libel people. I am honesty
curious why Gates has been out of the public sphere for over ten years but is
suddenly out there shilling against crypto for 'the children'.

~~~
sequence7
I had a look at that article but I couldn't find where in that article he is
"shilling against crypto for 'the children'". Can you share a quote?

~~~
m000
There are these:

> When you have encrypted, there is no way to know what it is. I personally
> believe government should not allow those types of lies or fraud or child
> pornography.

> Being big in the social media business is no simple game, like the
> encryption issue.

Personally, I wouldn't call these quotes "shilling", but Gates does seem to
have funny thoughts on encryption. Maybe half-baked, but he is smart enough to
not voice half-baked thoughts on an interview.

However, I'm also sceptical about the type of "free speech" reclaimthenet.org
is advocating. The tone of the article is very sensationalistic, focusing more
on calling-out Gates, rather than debunking his thoughts.

~~~
tfandango
I thought he seemed pretty exasperated in that interview on corona response.
Maybe he let his guard down, I was surprised to read the encryption stuff too.

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tomcam
This bears more research. Disturbing if true. Article is marred by
inflammatory rhetoric.

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sourthyme
I don't believe there is a way to stop end-to-end encryption. You can easily
make data look non-encrypted but actually contain something encrypted
underneath.

~~~
m000
a.k.a. steganography

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pwinnski
The actual quote, without breathless editorializing, is:

"The irony is that it’s digital social media that allows this kind of
titillating, oversimplistic explanation of, 'OK, there’s just an evil person,
and that explains all of this.' And when you have [ ] encrypted, there is no
way to know what it is. I personally believe government should not allow those
types of lies or fraud or child pornography."

I've removed Wired's additions within brackets, and suddenly it doesn't seem
at all clear Gates is talking about end-to-end encryption directly. It might
be said that is the only way to accomplish his wish, but when I first read the
article I thought he could as easily be talking about legal remedies as
anything else.

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gvhst
Bill, I thought you were a pretty smart guy... Can't you think of anything
that will increase public health knowledge and awareness (especially vaccines)
that doesn't involve monitoring private conversations for goodthink? I think
this is a very lazy way to go about you foundation's mission statement.

If we can't (and I really don't think this is the case), then anti-vaxxers are
the price we pay for a free and open society. To quote David Foster Wallace,
there is a "baseline vulnerability" that a free society has (whether it be
terrorism or the proliferation misinformation), and those that succumb to
those vulnerabilities are "sacrifices on the altar of freedom." [0]

[0] - [https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/11/just-
as...](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/11/just-
asking/306288/)

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jwineinger
Even if true, he's just one (already rich) person.

~~~
maps7
He's riding high on being correct about covid-19 so he is influential to a lot
of people.

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NiceWayToDoIT
Is this click-bait news, I cannot tell anymore?

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CryptoPunk
He didn't outright advocate for it from the interview that I believe motivated
this article, but he did pretty strongly imply that end-to-end encryption
facilitates crime and shouldn't be allowed:

[https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/28/bill-gates-lies-spread-
faste...](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/28/bill-gates-lies-spread-faster-than-
facts-on-social-media.html)

>“Some of the messages on their platform, they don’t even see because of the
encryption on WhatsApp,” Gates said. “In order to not have any responsibility,
they’ve made that opaque. You know, so whatever the issues — anti-vaccine,
child pornography — they have made sure they can’t intervene on those things.”

~~~
ACS_Solver
That's not how I read it. The quote is Gates talking about Facebook. My
interpretation isn't that he's saying E2EE is bad, but rather he's saying that
E2EE is a convenient way for Facebook to avoid/deny responsibility for things
being spread through parts of the platform that they own.

~~~
CryptoPunk
I can't see any implication from that position with respect to E2EE except
that these platforms shouldn't be allowed to have it.

