Tech
European governments opt for open source alternatives to Big Tech encrypted communications | Computer Weekly
European governments are increasingly turning towards open standards alternatives to end-to-end encrypted messaging and collaboration services dominated by WhatsApp and Microsoft Teams.
An open network messaging architecture, known as Matrix, is attracting interest from European governments that are seeking “sovereign” alternatives to encrypted collaboration and messaging tools supplied by US Big Tech companies.
Matrix aims to create an open standard for messaging, that would allow people to communicate irrespective of which messaging service they use, in much the same way that people can send emails to anyone irrespective of which email provider they use.
The German armed forces and the French government each have hundreds of thousands of government employees using messaging technology based on Matrix.
Swiss Post has used the technology to build an encrypted messaging service for postal users, and other projects are underway in Sweden, the European Commission and the Netherlands.
Matthew Hodgson co-founded Matrix as a not-for-profit open source project to develop technical standards for secure decentralised messaging, video and voice services in 2014.
When he is not working for Matrix, Hodgson is the CEO of Element, which provides encrypted communications services based on the Matrix protocol, to France, Nato and other government organisations.
Risk of US sanctions
He says European governments have shown increasing interest in using open source IT as a way of reducing their dependence on US Big Tech suppliers and creating their own sovereign alternatives in the wake of increasing geopolitical uncertainty.
The decision by the US to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague in February 2025, showed that sovereign states can no longer assume that cloud-based IT services supplied by Microsoft and other Big Tech companies are immune from world politics.
The sanctions impacted US suppliers that provide the court with “financial, material, or technological support,” prompting the ICC – which is heavily reliant on Microsoft – to seek to negotiate new IT contracts with other non-US suppliers.
“We have seen first-hand that US Big Tech companies are not reliable partners and out of common sense, for your country to be operationally dependent on another country is a crazy risk,” said Hodgson.
The “Signalgate” scandal was also a “huge wake-up call”. In April, it emerged that US national security advisor Mike Waltz inadvertently added a journalist to a classified group discussion on a Signal-based messaging service.
The incident led to renewed concerns about the proliferation of shadow communications technology among governments.
Encryption double-think
However, the same European governments that are advocating developing sovereign encrypted messaging services are also resisting the spread of end-to-end encryption.
This is happening through mechanisms like Chat Control, a European proposal to require technology companies to scan messages for illegal content before being encrypted, which has the unintended consequence of undermining the security of communications.
“There are obviously different factions and governments pushing in different directions,” said Hodgson. “I think Chat Control comes from a curious combination of ignorance and political gamesmanship, trying to score points.”
“My hope is that we will end up in a big, global peer-to-peer network without servers that cannot be compromised, undermined, surveilled or otherwise disrupted”
Matthew Hodgson, Element
In the UK, the Home Office has required Apple to give law enforcement and the intelligence services the capability to access the encrypted data that UK citizens have backed-up on Apple’s iCloud service.
Hodgson says that if the Home Office issues a similar order against Element, it would have no choice but to withdraw its services from the UK, or from Europe, if Chat Control was ever introduced.
The result would not be the disappearance of encrypted messaging apps, says Hodgson, but more likely a proliferation of home-grown encryption apps as people seek ways to maintain their privacy.
Look back to the crypto wars of the 1990s, when the US government sought to control and limit the spread of encryption technology – those efforts were thwarted by Phil Zimmerman who developed PGP encryption software.
Although it was technically illegal to distribute PGP, “mysteriously,” said Hodgson, “everyone was using it”.
“Even if Element was unable to publish apps in the app stores of European countries because of Chat Control, I strongly suspect that many other people will go and publish their own apps and make them available somehow,” he added.
No single point of attack
One of Matrix’s advantages as a communications standard is that it is decentralised. That means there is no single point of attack that would allow hackers to gain access to the whole network.
Hodgson contrasts that with Signal, an encrypted messaging service widely used by journalists and human rights campaigners, which presents a bigger target for hackers.
“Signal has very good encryption, and we use their encryption so we owe a lot to them,” he said. “On the flip side, if you are a motivated bad actor, with Signal there is only one app and one instance that you have to compromise.”
Another advantage of Matrix is that is interoperable, which means that one messaging platform built on Matrix, should have the capability to communicate with another.
With Nato deploying Matrix-based communications, for example, it would make sense for Nato forces to use encrypted Matrix-based messengers to communicate with each other.
France and Germany are understood to be in discussions about enabling messaging between the two countries.
Matrix ‘at least as good’ as WhatsApp
Apps built on Matrix have been less slick and less easy to set up than alternatives such as Signal and WhatsApp but that is beginning to change. Hodgson says there are a bunch of “really mature glossy apps” that are at least as good.
It’s taken longer to get there because taking a decentralised approach is always more difficult than a centralised approach – at least 10 times harder, he says.
Funding has also been an issue, as some governments deploying Matrix’s open networking protocol as part of critical national infrastructure have not opted to support Matrix financially.
Hodgson had assumed that as more governments and corporations started using Matrix there would be more money available for development.
Instead the funding often went to systems integrators hired by governments to deploy Matrix, rather than into Matrix itself.
Change of tack on fundraising
Element largely funded the development of Matrix up until 2023, but was forced to “aggressively change tack,” when the funds to support the protocol’s development failed to materialise.
Today Matrix relies on funding from a membership programme and is also looking at applying for grants while it grows its membership base.
“We are getting there now and I am hoping that in the next few months we will be out of the other side of that and really be able to start accelerating development again,” he said.
Hodgson’s philosophy is that features developed to empower users of Matrix should be made available free of charge, but features that empower enterprises should be paid for.
Paid services include antivirus, information classification labels, and measures to prevent the wrong people being accidently included into chats.
People can sign up for Matrix without setting up their own server, but deploying Matrix could become even simpler in the future. The Dutch government has agreed to fund the development of a peer-to-peer version of Matrix, that obviates the need for a server altogether.
In the meantime, work is underway with technology partners to deal with spam messages, AI slop and botnet produced propaganda, that have all grown as Matrix deployments have expanded.
“My hope is that we will end up in a big, global peer-to-peer network without servers that cannot be compromised, undermined, surveilled or otherwise disrupted,” said Hodgson.
Nancy Mace, the South Carolina Republican congresswoman, unleashed a tirade against law enforcement at the Charleston International Airport on Thursday, WIRED has learned.
According to an incident report obtained by WIRED under South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act, Mace cursed at police officers, making repeated derogatory comments toward them. The report says that a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) supervisor told officers that Mace had treated their staff similarly and that they would be reporting her to their superiors.
According to the report, officers with the Charleston County Aviation Authority Police Department were tasked with meeting Mace at 6:30 am to escort her from the curb to her flight and had been told that she would be arriving in a white BMW at the ticketing curb area. Around 6:35, the report says, they were told she was running late; they never saw the car arrive.
Shortly before 7 am, the report stated, dispatch told the officers that Mace was at the entrance for the Known Crewmember program—a trusted access lane with a smaller checkpoint overseen by the TSA and intended for flight crew members.
When officers quickly located her, according to a supplemental incident report filed by one of the officers, the congresswoman immediately began “loudly cursing and making derogatory comments to us about the department. She repeatedly stated we were ‘Fucking incompetent,’ and ‘this is no way to treat a fucking US Representative,’” the report states.
As officers escorted her to her gate, according to the report, she brought a South Carolina Senate colleague into the fracas.
“She also said we would never treat Tim Scott like this,” says one officer tasked with escorting Mace says in the report.
“The entire walk to gate B-8 she was cursing and complaining and often doing the same into her phone,” an officer writes in the report. In the main incident report, an officer notes that Mace was yelling into her phone, either on a phone call or dictating text messages. “After standing in the vicinity of B-8 for several minutes with her continuing her tirade, she finally boarded the aircraft.”
After Mace’s flight took off, the report states, an American Airlines gate agent approached the officers. According to the report, he “stated he was in disbelief regarding her behavior. He implied that a US Representative should not be acting the way she was.”
The report goes on to state that officers checked with a TSA supervisor, who told the officers “he was very upset with how she acted at the checkpoint.” This supervisor, according to the report, told the officers that Mace had “talked to several TSA agents the same way” and that they would be “submitting a report to his superiors about her unacceptable behavior.” TSA agents are not currently being fully paid, due to the ongoing government shutdown.
Disney content has gone dark on YouTube TV, leaving subscribers of the Google-owned live streaming platform without access to major networks like ESPN and ABC.
That’s because the companies have failed to reach a new licensing deal to keep Disney channels on YouTube TV. Depending on how long it lasts, the dispute could particularly impact coverage of U.S. college football matchups over the weekend—as well as NBA and NFL games—on top of other news and entertainment disruptions that have already arrived.
In the meantime, YouTube TV subscribers who want to watch Disney channels could have little choice other than turning to traditional broadcasting or the company’s own platforms—which come with their own price tags.
Here’s what we know.
Why is Disney content not on YouTube TV today?
Disney content was pulled from YouTube TV after a carriage agreement expired on Thursday. The two sides have been unable to reach a new deal to continue licensing Disney channels on the platform—resulting in the current blackout.
YouTube TV says that Disney is proposing terms that would be too costly, resulting in higher prices and fewer choices for its subscribers. Google’s streamer has accused Disney of following through on “the threat of a blackout on YouTube TV as a negotiating tactic”—and claims that the move also benefits Disney’s own streaming products like Hulu + Live TV and Fubo.
Meanwhile, Disney says that YouTube TV has refused to pay fair rates of its channels—and is therefore choosing “to deny their subscribers the content they value most.” The California entertainment giant also accused Google of “using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undercut the industry-standard terms we’ve successfully negotiated with every other distributor.”
In a Friday note to employees, Disney Entertainment Co-Chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro added that YouTube TV pulled Disney content Thursday night “prior to the midnight expiration of our deal”—and noted the platform also deleted subscribers’ previously-recorded programming. The Associated Press reached out to Google for further comment.
What channels are impacted?
ESPN and ABC are among the biggest networks that YouTube TV subscribers can no longer access amid the dispute.
And beyond those top sports and news offerings, other Disney-owned content that is now dark on the platform include channels specific to U.S. college athletic regions, like the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference. NatGeo and FX are also impacted.
Here’s a recap of the full list outlined by YouTube TV:
1. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews and ESPN Deportes (Spanish Plan)
2. ABC and ABC News Live
3. Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild and Nat Geo Mundo (Spanish Plan)
4. Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD
5. FX, FXX and FXM
6. SEC Network and ACC Network
7. Freeform
8. Localish
9. Baby TV Español (Spanish Plan)
Google says that streamer adds-ons like 4K Plus and Spanish Plus are also affected.
Where else can I watch ESPN and ABC?
Consumers can continue to watch Disney’s sports programming on the company’s own ESPN offerings—but it will come with an additional cost. For streaming, the network launched its own platform earlier this year under the same ESPN name, starting at $29.99 a month.
Other Disney content can be found on platforms like Hulu, Disney+ and Fubo. Again, those come with their own price tags. Disney also allows people to bundle ESPN along with Hulu and Disney+ for $35.99 a month—or $29.99 a month for the first year.
Disney also directed customers to a website called KeepMyNetworks.com to explore other options, which includes more traditional broadcast services.
But if you’re a YouTube TV subscriber and don’t have these streaming subscriptions or broadcast offerings, you might be left without access to this Disney content as long as the impasse lasts. YouTube TV said it would give subscribers a $20 credit if Disney content unavailable “for an extended period of time.”
YouTube TV’s base subscription plan costs $82.99 per month. Beyond Disney content, the platform currently offers live TV from networks like NBC, CBS, Fox, BBC, PBS, Hallmark, Food Network and more.
How long could the dispute last?
YouTube TV and Disney have acknowledged that the disruption is frustrating—and both maintain that they’re still committed to finding a resolution. But only time will tell.
The current blackout marks the latest in growing list of licensing disputes that impact consumers’ access to content.
From sports events to awards shows, live programming that was once reserved for broadcast has increasingly made its way into the streaming world over the years—as more and more consumers ditch traditional cable or satellite TV subscriptions for content they can get online. But renewing carriage agreements can also mean tense contract negotiations, particularly amid growing competition in the space.
YouTube TV and Disney have been down this road before. In 2021, YouTube TV subscribers also briefly lost access to all Disney content on the platform after a similar contract breakdown between the two companies. That outage lasted less than two days, with the companies eventually reaching an agreement.
Some past impasses have been shorter and limited to a matter of hours—or found a way to temporarily ward of disruptions at the last minute. In August, for example, YouTube TV reached a “short-term extension” in its contract dispute with Fox, and the two later reached a new licensing deal.
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Further, that alleged activity can’t even reliably be linked to any Meta employee, Meta claims.
Strike 3 “does not identify any of the individuals who supposedly used these Meta IP addresses, allege that any were employed by Meta or had any role in AI training at Meta, or specify whether (and which) content allegedly downloaded was used to train any particular Meta model,” Meta wrote.
Meanwhile, “tens of thousands of employees,” as well as “innumerable contractors, visitors, and third parties access the internet at Meta every day,” Meta argued. So while it’s “possible one or more Meta employees” downloaded Strike 3’s content over the past seven years, “it is just as possible” that a “guest, or freeloader,” or “contractor, or vendor, or repair person—or any combination of such persons—was responsible for that activity,” Meta claims.
Other alleged activity included a claim that a Meta contractor was directed to download adult content at his father’s house, but those downloads, too, “are plainly indicative of personal consumption,” Meta argued. That contractor worked as an “automation engineer,” Meta noted, with no apparent basis provided for why he would be expected to source AI training data in that role. “No facts plausibly” tie “Meta to those downloads,” Meta claims.
“The fact that the torrenting allegedly stopped when his contract with Meta ended says nothing about whether the alleged torrenting was performed with Meta’s knowledge or at its direction,” Meta wrote.
Meta Slams AI Training Theory as “Nonsensical”
Possibly most baffling to Meta in Strike 3’s complaint, however, is the claim about the “stealth network” of hidden IPs. This presents “yet another conundrum” that Strike 3 “fails to address,” Meta claims, writing, “why would Meta seek to ‘conceal’ certain alleged downloads of Plaintiffs’ and third-party content, but use easily traceable Meta corporate IP addresses for many hundreds of others?”
“The obvious answer is that it would not do so,” Meta claims, slamming Strike 3’s “entire AI training theory” as “nonsensical and unsupported.”
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