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Australia is keen to work with communications companies to crack encrypted messages used by terrorists, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told a high-powered panel at the United Nations.
Bishop, speaking in New York on Wednesday at an event headed by British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, congratulated Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, Google, and YouTube for joining with governments to combat terrorists online.
While Australia supports an open, free, and secure internet, Bishop said encrypted messaging apps used by extremist groups are in the Australian government’s sights.
“Australia is very keen to work constructively with communications service providers to prevent terrorists from using encryption to hide online,” Bishop said.
“This is a significant challenge as encryption is vital for the protection of many legitimate activities including national security ecommerce and personal privacy.
“However, governments and the private sector have a shared interest and collective responsibility to combat the scourge of terrorism.”
Bishop is heading Australia’s delegation this week at the UN General Assembly, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull choosing not to make the trip to New York.
She will hold a bilateral meeting with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates later on Wednesday.
“We must do more in countering terrorists’ exploitation of the internet,” Bishop said.
“Australia supports an open, free, and secure internet; however, it cannot be an ungoverned space in which terrorists operate beyond the reach of the law.”
A member of the Five Eyes intelligence agreement — alongside the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand — Australia has been pushing the encryption issue among the group in recent months.
In June, Australian Attorney-General George Brandis said the issue is a priority for the government.