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A Senior British Politician Thinks That ISIS Is Reliant On WhatsApp And Snapchat

A Senior British Politician Thinks That ISIS Is Reliant On WhatsApp And Snapchat

ISIS Islamic State

Reuters

A member loyal to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant waves an ISIL flag in Raqqa, Syria June 29, 2014.

A senior British politician has made $4 - and is even suggesting that the encrypted messaging apps have helped enable recent "gains" by the militant Jihadist group.

Encrypted messaging is being fiercely debated in the UK. Last week, $4 that doesn't have a "backdoor" for law enforcement access. 

$4, including WhatsApp, Snapchat and Apple. They're unlikely to agree to make any changes.

During a debate on the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill today, former Defence Secretary Tom King $4. The Lord declared his ignorance of messaging services - before claiming they are vital to Islamic State's infrastructure.

"I am not a tweeter," he told the House of Lords. "We have Facebook and Twitter. Somebody tried to explain WhatsApp to me, somebody else tried to explain Snapchat. I do not know about them - but it is absolutely clear the terrorists and jihadists do."

"The understanding is that part of the reason for ISIL's amazing advance across Syria and into Iraq was that their communications were so good," King continued, "and the way they kept together was entirely due to one or other of the last two systems that I mentioned."

It's not clear where King gets his information from, or whether Islamic State and other Islamist groups actually use apps like WhatsApp and Snapchat or not. But they are known $4. As such, even if the government were to outlaw encryption - and were able to enforce the ban, persuading WhatsApp et al to drop it - terrorist organisations would likely still be unaffected.

Watch Lord King's full remarks below:

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