Apple and Meta are openly challenging a new Canadian legislation that they claim could compel tech firms to compromise encryption or create backdoors in their products. Here are the specifics.
### New territory, familiar concern
Last year, Apple became embroiled in a prominent conflict with the British government after the UK mandated companies to implement backdoors in their encryption systems. This led Apple to halt the provision of Advanced Data Protection to new users in the country, while current users would ultimately have to turn it off. The British government reportedly yielded under pressure from the US.
At that time, Apple emphasized that it had never, and would never, “construct a backdoor or master key for any of (its) products or services.” This notable disagreement revived a discussion regarding government access to encrypted Apple user data reminiscent of the San Bernardino incident, when the FBI made a similar plea before retracting it after discovering an alternative means to access the iPhone without Apple’s assistance.
Fast forward to the present, and Apple finds itself potentially encountering a comparable dilemma, this time in Canada. As reported by Reuters, a new bill may provide the government with the authority to mandate companies to dismantle encryption or incorporate backdoors into their products. The proposal, referred to as Bill C-22, would widen the investigative tools available to Canadian law enforcement for obtaining digital information related to criminal inquiries.
Though it does not explicitly address encryption, Apple contends that the proposal’s access provisions could yet be leveraged to force companies to weaken encrypted services. Here is Apple’s statement to Reuters:
> “In a time of escalating and widespread threats from malicious parties seeking access to user data, Bill C-22, in its current form, would jeopardize our capacity to provide the robust privacy and security features that users anticipate from Apple. […] This law could empower the Canadian government to coerce companies into breaking encryption by embedding backdoors into their products – a course of action Apple will never pursue.”
While the bill remains under discussion in the House of Commons, Reuters indicates it has been introduced “by Canada’s governing Liberal Party, which secured a parliamentary majority last month.”
Apple’s apprehensions were mirrored by Meta, whose executives expressed in prepared testimony that, “as it stands, the bill could obligate companies like Meta to develop or sustain capabilities that break, weaken, or bypass encryption or other zero-knowledge security frameworks, and compel providers to install government spyware directly onto their infrastructures.”
To view Reuters’ complete report, [follow this link](https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/apple-warns-canadian-bill-could-force-it-weaken-device-encryption-2026-05-07).