Ghana suspends payments on Eurobonds, commercial loans
Announcement a week after IMF staff-level agreement
Eurobonds sink up to 3 cents in dollar
ACCRA, Dec 19 (Reuters) – Ghana on Monday suspended payments on most of its external debt, effectively defaulting as the country struggles to plug its cavernous balance of payments deficit.
Its finance ministry said it will not service debts including its Eurobonds, commercial loans and most bilateral loans, calling the decision an “interim emergency measure”, while some bondholders criticised a lack of clarity in the decision.
The government “stands ready to engage in discussions with all of its external creditors to make Ghana’s debt sustainable”, the finance ministry said.
The suspension of debt payments reflects the parlous state of the economy, which had led the government last week to reach a $3-billion staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Ghana had already announced a domestic debt exchange programme and said that an external restructuring was being negotiated with creditors. The IMF has said a comprehensive debt restructuring is a condition of its support.
The country has been struggling to refinance its debt since the start of the year after downgrades by multiple credit ratings agencies on concerns it would not be able to issue new Eurobonds.
That has sent Ghana’s debt further into the distressed territory. Its public debt stood at 467.4 billion Ghanaian cedis ($55 billion as per Refinitiv Eikon data) in September, of which 42% was domestic.
Ghana external debt by holder type, 2022 Q3, $ billion
It had a balance of payments deficit of more than $3.4 billion in September, down from a surplus of $1.6 billion at the same time last year.
While 70% to 100% of the government revenue currently goes toward servicing the debt, the country’s inflation has shot up to as much as 50% in November.
Ghana has been experiencing what some say is its worst economic crisis in a generation. Last month, more than 1,000 protesters marched through the capital Accra, calling for the resignation of the president and denouncing deals with the IMF as fuel and food costs spiralled.
Its gross international reserves stood at around $6.6 billion at the end of September, equating to less than three months of imports cover. That is down from around $9.7 billion at the end of last year.
The government said the suspension will not include the payments towards multilateral debt, new debts taken after Dec. 19 or debts related to certain short-term trade facilities.
‘NOT COMING OUT OF THE BLUE’
Holders of Ghana’s international bonds confirmed in an emailed statement late on Monday the formal launch of a creditor committee aimed at facilitating the “orderly and comprehensive resolution” of the country’s debt challenges.
Any good faith negotiations, the creditor committee said, would need to avoid unilateral actions and require the timely exchange of detailed economic and financial information between international bondholders, the government and the IMF.
The steering committee was made up of Abrdn, Amundi, BlackRock, Greylock and Ninety One, the group said in its statement.
Kathryn Exum, who co-leads Gramercy’s Sovereign Research department, was hopeful about debt restructuring, noting that it should prove easier for creditors than other recent emerging market restructurings.
“It is more straight forward than the likes of Sri Lanka and Zambia, in the respect that there is not a lot of China debt,” Exum said on Friday in comments anticipating the external restructuring.
One bondholder who requested anonymity said the lack of detail in the announcement could be cause for concern for investors.
Ghana’s external bonds, which are trading at a deeply distressed level of 29-41 cents in the dollar, dropped with the 2034 bond losing more than 3 cents, Tradeweb data showed.
Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics
Nonetheless, some investors said the suspension of external debt payment was expected.
“It is in line with Ghana getting into talks about restructuring with various debt holders, so not coming out of the blue,” Rob Drijkoningen, co-head of emerging market debt at Neuberger Berman, which holds some Ghanaian Eurobonds.
Ghana did pay a Dec. 16 coupon due on a 2049 Eurobond, according to a person familiar with the matter.
It was not immediately clear if the debt service suspension would include a $1 billion 2030 bond that has a $400 million World Bank guarantee .
“We will not be commenting on the specifics of any particular bond or debt owed at this time, but… we are fully engaging all stakeholders,” a finance ministry spokesperson told Reuters.
($1 = 8.5000 Ghanaian cedi)
Reporting by Christian Akorlie and Cooper Inveen; Additional reporting by Rachel Savage, Marc Jones and Jorgelina do Rosario; Writing by Rachel Savage and Cooper Inveen; Editing by Karin Strohecker, Ed Osmond, Arun Koyyur and Aurora Ellis
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DAKAR, July 17 (Reuters) – Ghana has officially confirmed two cases of the Marburg virus, a highly infectious disease similar to Ebola, its health service said on Sunday, after two people who later died tested positive for the virus earlier this month.
Tests conducted in Ghana came back positive on July 10, but the results had to be verified by a laboratory in Senegal for the cases to be considered confirmed, according to the World Health Organization. read more
“Further testing at the Institute Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal has corroborated the results,” Ghana Health Service (GHS) said in a statement.
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GHS is working to reduce any risk of the virus spreading, including the isolation of all identified contacts, none of whom have developed any symptoms so far, it said.
This is only the second outbreak of Marburg in West Africa. The first ever case of the virus in the region was detected last year in Guinea, with no further cases identified.
“(Ghanaian) health authorities have responded swiftly, getting a head start preparing for a possible outbreak. This is good because without immediate and decisive action, Marburg can easily get out of hand,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
The two patients in southern Ghana’s Ashanti region both had symptoms including diarrhoea, fever, nausea and vomiting, before dying in hospital, the WHO said.
There have been a dozen major Marburg outbreaks since 1967, mostly in southern and eastern Africa. Fatality rates have varied from 24% to 88% in past outbreaks depending on the virus strain and case management, according to the WHO.
It is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials, the WHO says.
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Reporting by Alessandra Prentice and Nellie Peyton; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Daniel Wallis
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LONDON/KISUMU, Kenya, July 13 (Reuters) – After decades of work, the World Health Organization endorsed the first-ever malaria vaccine last year – a historic milestone that promised to drive back a disease that kills a child every minute.
In reality, efforts are falling well short of that, with a lack of funding and commercial potential thwarting GSK Plc’s capacity to produce as many doses of its shot as needed, according to Reuters interviews with about a dozen WHO officials, GSK staff, scientists and non-profit groups.
The British drugmaker committed to produce up to 15 million doses every year through 2028, following 2019 pilot programs – considerably less than the WHO says is needed. It is currently unlikely to make more than a few million annually before 2026, according to a source close to the vaccine rollout.
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A GSK spokesperson told Reuters that it could not make enough of its vaccine Mosquirix to meet the vast demand without more funds from international donors, without giving details on the numbers of doses it expected to produce annually in the first years of the roll-out.
“Demand over the next five to 10 years will probably outstrip the current forecasts on supply,” said Thomas Breuer, GSK’s chief global health officer.
The vaccine’s effectiveness at preventing severe cases of malaria in children is relatively low, at around 30% in a large-scale clinical trial. Some officials and donors are hoping that a second shot being tested by Oxford University may prove better, cheaper and easier to produce in bulk.
Yet the world’s inability to fund more Mosquirix shots dismays many in Africa. Children on the continent account for the vast majority of the roughly 600,000 global malaria deaths every year.
“Mosquirix has the potential to save a lot of precious lives before another new vaccine arrives,” said Kwame Amponsa-Achiano, a public health specialist leading a pilot vaccination program in Ghana. “The more we wait, the more children die needlessly.”
Rebecca Adhiambo Kwanya in the Kenyan city of Kisumu needs no convincing: her four-year-old child Betrun has suffered numerous malaria bouts since birth, yet her 18-month-old Bradley – vaccinated in the pilot program – hasn’t caught it.
“My elder one was not vaccinated and he was sick on and off,” she said. “But the smaller one, he got the vaccine and he was not even sick.”
The limited international appetite to produce and distribute more Mosquirix stands in stark contrast to the record speed and funds with which wealthy countries secured vaccines for COVID-19, a disease that poses relatively little risk to children.
Unlike many pharmaceutical products, there is no major market for a malaria vaccine in the developed world, where drug companies typically make the large profits that they say allows them to make their products available at far lower prices in poorer countries.
“This is a disease of the poor, so it’s not been that appealing in terms of the market,” said Corine Karema, chief executive of the nonprofit RBM Partnership to End Malaria, which is working with governments in Africa to eliminate the disease.
“But one kid dies of malaria every minute – that’s unacceptable.”
EXTRA DATA, ADDED YEARS
In the coming weeks, global health organizations will announce the next steps to make Mosquirix widely available, including the first procurement deal and the WHO’s recommended allocation to prioritize roughly 10 million children at highest risk, the source familiar with the rollout plans said.
Long-term, WHO officials say roughly 100 million doses a year of the four-dose vaccine will be needed, which would cover around 25 million children. When the U.N. agency backed Mosquirix last October, it said that even a smaller supply could save 40,000 to 80,000 lives each year, without specifying the number of doses required. read more
GSK’s maximum target of 15 million doses could prevent up to about 20,000 deaths each year, according to a Reuters review of the malaria vaccine models used by WHO.
Yet even hitting 15 million could take years, according to several officials at the WHO and elsewhere in the malaria effort who said wider distribution beyond the pilot countries was unlikely before early 2024, and even then it would start slowly.
GSK also has to upgrade its manufacturing capacity to reach its target. It said it had set up a funding deal with international vaccine alliance Gavi to help stockpile a key ingredient of the shot to ensure there was no gap in supply during that process.
“We are on course to complete the agreed stockpiling volume,” said a spokesperson.
The drugmaker has invested 700 million pounds ($840 million)in the vaccine’s development and says it won’t charge more than 5% above the cost to produce it.
“No company wants to be in a situation where you build manufacturing which oversupplies the market and vaccines will not be used,” said Breuer said, referring to a future split in demand between Mosquirix and the Oxford vaccine, if approved.
After 2028, India’s Bharat Biotech will take over production of Mosquirix’s key ingredient.
GSK’s Breuer expects the deal with Bharat to accelerate production. The British drugmaker will continue to produce the adjuvant – immune-boosting portion – of the vaccine, and recently committed to doubling production to 30 million doses annually, without offering a timeline.
Bharat Biotech, which has yet to outline its manufacturing plans, did not respond to requests for comment.
A nurse administers the malaria vaccine to an infant at the Lumumba Sub-County hospital in Kisumu, Kenya, July 1, 2022. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
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LOSING SOMEONE TO MALARIA
GSK has donated 10 million doses to pilot programs in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, and less than half have been shipped so far. The countries plan to expand campaigns this year and next using a mix of the remaining donations and purchased shots.
GSK said a WHO decision to collect additional data on safety and effectiveness from the pilot programs had added years to the launch process, during which it had to idle a dedicated production facility.
The WHO said safety questions had to be addressed before approval, and that it was working urgently to boost supply.
Mary Hamel, the agency’s malaria vaccine implementation head, told Reuters that COVID vaccines had shown how quickly things could move with the political will and funding – which she said malaria had never had.
Mosquirix has been in development since the 1980s, in part because of the complexity of targeting the malaria parasite.
Its regulatory pathway has also been slow. In 2015, GSK published results from a large-scale clinical trial showing vaccine reduced the risk of severe malaria by about 30%. The WHO sought more data on the shot’s safety and effectiveness, gathering information from 2019 during the pilot vaccination programs, before endorsing Mosquirix.
In the past, such real-world data on a vaccine has often been tracked after it has been authorized for use.
“Would we have done it in the West? I don’t know,” said WHO’s Hamel, who was not involved in the decision, referring to holding up the deployment of shots to collect extra data.
BIG DONOR: NO SILVER BULLET
Now recommended for use, it is not clear how the shot’s distribution will be financed long-term. Funding for malaria totaled $3.3 billion in 2020, less than half of the estimated need, the WHO said, for tools such as treatments, bed nets and insecticides.
Adding malaria vaccines could cost between $325 million and more than $600 million annually, depending on how widely they are used, according to a study by global health researchers published in the Lancet journal in 2019. The WHO estimates that the GSK vaccine will cost around $5 per dose.
Two of the biggest funders behind the development and pilot programs for Mosquirix, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, told Reuters they were committing almost no additional financing to deploy the vaccine.
“It’s not a silver bullet, and it’s relatively expensive compared to other interventions used for malaria,” said Peter Sands, head of the Global Fund. “The fundamental issue with malaria isn’t actually about tools. It’s about the fact that we spend far too little money on it.”
The Gates Foundation said it would continue to back research into how to best use the “historic” vaccine, but “concerns about the relatively low efficacy, short duration, and constrained supply challenges” meant it would not fund deployment.
Gavi is currently the only significant source of funding for a wider Mosquirix rollout. It has approved about $155 million for 2022 through 2025, alongside some funding from the countries themselves. Internal documents seen by Reuters suggest Gavi’s investment in the first year is only expected to be $20 million.
A source familiar with the plans said the group hoped that getting the vaccine rolled out, and countries showing demand, would make the case for more investment.
OXFORD SHOT IN THE WORKS
Several global health officials said future funding from donors might be better committed to a new shot from the scientists at Oxford University who developed AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine.
Data from small trials showed 77% efficacy over a 12-month period, if given to babies shortly before the peak malaria season. Results from a much larger clinical trial are expected in the coming weeks. Some researchers suggest the GSK vaccine, too, may show higher effectiveness if given seasonally.
Oxford scientist Adrian Hill told Reuters his team aims to secure a WHO recommendation for their malaria shot within a year of submitting data to the agency.
The Serum Institute of India, which will manufacture the vaccine, told Reuters it expects to be able to make up to 200 million doses annually by the end of 2024.
In the years ahead, there are also hopes for a shot being developed by BioNTech (22UAy.DE), using the same mRNA technology as their successful COVID vaccine made with Pfizer . BioNTech aims to begin human trials by the end of 2022.
But in the years before either of those shots might be used, there will not be enough vaccines even for those 10 million children the WHO says are most at risk.
“We should have had this vaccine a long time ago,” said Alassane Dicko, professor of public health at the University of Science, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako in Mali, who has led some of the Mosquirix trials.
“We have to do more.”
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Reporting by Jennifer Rigby and Natalie Grover in London, and Maggie Fick in Nairobi; Additional reporting by Baz Ratner in Kisumu, Kenya; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Pravin Char
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APIATE, Ghana, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Nancy Nyarko was preparing porridge at her roadside stall near the edge of the village of Apiate in Ghana’s western mining region when she heard a loud noise close by.
Looking up, she saw a motorbike had collided with a large truck and caught fire, Nyarko said, her right hand and left leg wrapped in bandages.
The crash happened at 13:25 on Jan 20. In less than an hour Apiate was reduced to a wasteland of rubble, timber and twisted metal, a 20m (65 ft) crater yawning at its core from an explosion. At least 13 people were dead and nearly 200 injured.
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What residents didn’t know was that the truck, owned by the Spanish company Maxam, contained 10 tons of explosives meant to blast rock in the Chirano gold mine, run by Toronto-based Kinross Gold Corporation (K.TO), around 140 km (87 miles) further north. read more
The explosion exposed the risk of transporting mining goods in poor areas with limited emergency response.
The truck was on fire for 45 minutes before the blast, in which time residents were allowed to walk to the scene to take photos and video without police or firemen holding them back, eight eye witnesses said.
Survivors were left with cuts and lingering questions about extent of safety precautions and the speed and effectiveness of the authorities’ response.
“The truck stopped and the driver got out and started waving,” Nyarko said.
“He ran into a shop and told the people to get out. I couldn’t hear him from where I was but I could see him gesturing for people to get away, so I also decided to leave,” Nyarko said.
Ghana Police spokesman Kwesi Ofori told Reuters the truck had been escorted by a Maxam car with a flashing security light in front, and a police car behind.
A police document, shared by Ofori, showed the escort was carrying 10 tons of explosive and signed off by the regional command in Tarkwa on Jan. 19. The truck driver and policeman told a nearby school to evacuate its pupils and a fuel station to shut down, Ofori said.
“When he saw what happened, the policeman quickly reversed far away and started alerting people to be careful about what was happening,” Ofori said.
“The escort police also alerted the fuel station and they shut. That also could have been a major disaster,” Ofori said.
Nancy and seven other witnesses of the accident said they did not recall seeing a police escort and a Maxam car with a flashing light, or that a policeman helped warn the villagers.
The manager of the GOIL fuel station, Fred Antwi, said he did not speak to any police officers, and police from the station in Bogosoro, around a mile away, didn’t arrive until after the blast.
“WE CALLED AND CALLED”
Maxam did not respond to a request for comment. A Kinross spokesperson said the vehicle was under the sole supervision of Maxam.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Ghana’s minister of information, said police had initiated an inquiry into the sequence of events and facts surrounding the incident.
Many villagers fled but, as videos shared on social media show, curious spectators walked towards the flames.
At least eight witnesses said the truck was burning for 45 minutes before it exploded. Police said the interval between the crash and blast was 15-20 minutes.
“I spoke with the driver as he tried to call the fire service,” said Kwame Mensa, his face patched with plasters.
“He kept saying something was about to happen. We called and called, but by the time they came, the worst had already happened.”
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Reporting by Cooper Inveen and Francis Kokoroko; additional reporting Christian Akorlie and Hereward Holland; writing by Hereward Holland
Editing by Alistair Bell
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CONAKRY, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Guinea’s military junta said on Friday it would not bow to regional pressure and allow President Alpha Conde, detained since his overthrow on Sept. 5, to leave the country.
On Friday Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara and Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo paid a one-day visit to Conakry to ask coup leader Mamady Doumbouya, a special forces commander and former French Legionnaire, for Conde’s release.
Outtara had been hoping to leave Guinea with Conde, a senior regional government official told Reuters.
“The former president is and remains in Guinea. We will not yield to any pressure,” the junta said in a statement read on state TV.
Ouattara and Akufo-Addo, representing the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), held a separate meeting with Conde at the Mohamed VI Palace in Conakry, but flew out the country on Friday evening empty-handed.
Ouattara told Radio-Télévision Guinéenne (RTG) at Conakry airport before leaving: “I met my brother Alpha Conde, who is doing well. We will remain in contact.”
Akufo-Addo told RTG: “We’ve had a very frank and fraternal meeting with Doumbouya and his collaborators. I think that ECOWAS and Guinea are going to find the best way to move forward together.”
ECOWAS has demanded a return to constitutional rule since the special forces unit seized control of the presidential palace, detained Conde and declared itself in charge.
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, new chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), speaks to journalists after a consultative meeting in Accra, Ghana September 15, 2020. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko/File Photo
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The bloc agreed on Thursday to freeze financial assets of the junta and their relatives and bar them from travelling. The junta has not responded.
‘COUP-BELT’
Events in Guinea followed coups in Mali and Chad earlier this year that have raised fears of a democratic backslide in a region only just shedding its “coup-belt” reputation.
Guinea’s coup leaders have held a week of consultations with public figures and business leaders to map out a framework for a transitional government.
ECOWAS’s credibility in Guinea has been strained since 2018, when the bloc failed to condemn Conde for running for a third term in office last year, despite a law declaring that presidents must step down after two and widespread protests.
Ouattara himself used a constitutional change as an excuse to run for a third term last year, a move critics decried as illegal.
Following Thursday’s summit, during which ECOWAS also pressured Mali’s transitional government to hold elections by February 2022, the regional body said it would be reviewing protocols on democracy and good governance.
On departing the airport in Conakry, the ECOWAS motorcade passed dozens of pro-junta demonstrators brandishing signs.
One read: “ECOWAS does not decide for us.”
Reporting by Saliou Samb and Christian Akorlie; Additional reporting by Ange Aboa; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Edward McAllister, Philippa Fletcher, Andrew Cawthorne, William Maclean and David Gregorio
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ACCRA, Sept 16 (Reuters) – West Africa’s main regional bloc on Thursday imposed sanctions against the junta in Guinea and those slowing Mali’s post-coup transition – its toughest response yet to a run of military takeovers.
The move was agreed at an emergency summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Accra to respond to last week’s putsch in Guinea and perceived slow progress towards constitutional rule in Mali following a coup last year. read more
Regional heads of state decided to freeze the financial assets and impose travel bans on Guinea’s junta members and their relatives, insisting on the release of President Alpha Conde and a short transition.
“In six months elections should be held,” said ECOWAS Commission President Jean-Claude Kassi Brou at a briefing.
The bloc also piled more pressure on Mali’s transitional government, demanding they stick to an agreement to organise elections for February 2022 and present an electoral roadmap by next month, according to the post-summit communique.
Anyone in Mali hindering preparations for the elections faces the same sanctions as those imposed in Guinea, it said.
Leaders who took part in the summit hailed this more hardline stance. West and Central Africa has seen four coups since last year – political upheaval that has intensified concerns about a backslide towards military rule in a resource-rich but poverty-stricken region.
Special forces commander Mamady Doumbouya, who ousted President Alpha Conde, walks out after meeting the envoys from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to discuss ways to steer Guinea back toward a constitutional regime, in Conakry, Guinea September 10, 2021. REUTERS/Saliou Samb
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“I welcome the strong actions of the summit to safeguard democracy, peace, security and stability in the subregion,” Senegalese President Macky Sall tweeted.
Coup leaders in Guinea are holding consultations this week with various public figures, groups and business leaders in the country to map a framework for the transition.
Late on Thursday they said they were also expecting a delegation of regional heads of state to visit Conakry for talks on Friday.
Soldiers behind the Sept. 5 coup have said they ousted Conde because of concerns about poverty and corruption, and because he was serving a third term only after altering the constitution to permit it.
Meanwhile the putsch in Mali was largely precipitated by a security crisis, which has seen militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State extend their influence across the north and centre of the country.
The new Malian authorities’ pledge to hold presidential and legislative elections early next year has been undermined by their failure to meet various deadlines, including the start of voter roll updates and the presentation of a new constitution.
The transition was dealt a further setback in May when the colonel who led the initial coup, Assimi Goita, ordered the arrest of the interim president and then took over the role himself. read more
Additional reporting by Saliou Samb in Conakry and Bate Felix in Dakar; Writing by Cooper Inveen, Bate Felix and Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Marguerita Choy and Grant McCool
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Aug 19 (Reuters) – More than 90 policy and rights groups around the world published an open letter on Thursday urging Apple (AAPL.O) to abandon plans for scanning children’s messages for nudity and the phones of adults for images of child sex abuse.
“Though these capabilities are intended to protect children and to reduce the spread of child sexual abuse material, we are concerned that they will be used to censor protected speech, threaten the privacy and security of people around the world, and have disastrous consequences for many children,” the groups wrote in the letter, which was first reported by Reuters.
The largest campaign to date over an encryption issue at a single company was organized by the U.S.-based nonprofit Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT).
Some overseas signatories in particular are worried about the impact of the changes in nations with different legal systems, including some already hosting heated fights over encryption and privacy.
“It’s so disappointing and upsetting that Apple is doing this, because they have been a staunch ally in defending encryption in the past,” said Sharon Bradford Franklin, co-director of CDT’s Security & Surveillance Project.
An Apple spokesman said the company had addressed privacy and security concerns in a document Friday outlining why the complex architecture of the scanning software should resist attempts to subvert it.
Those signing included multiple groups in Brazil, where courts have repeatedly blocked Facebook’s (FB.O) WhatsApp for failing to decrypt messages in criminal probes, and the senate has passed a bill that would require traceability of messages, which would require somehow marking their content. A similar law was passed in India this year.
“Our main concern is the consequence of this mechanism, how this could be extended to other situations and other companies,” said Flavio Wagner, president of the independent Brazil chapter of the Internet Society, which signed. “This represents a serious weakening of encryption.”
Other signers were in India, Mexico, Germany, Argentina, Ghana and Tanzania.
Surprised by the earlier outcry following its announcement two weeks ago, Apple has offered a series of explanations and documents to argue that the risks of false detections are low.
Apple said it would refuse demands to expand the image-detection system beyond pictures of children flagged by clearinghouses in multiple jurisdictions, though it has not said it would pull out of a market rather than obeying a court order.
Though most of the objections so far have been over device-scanning, the coalition’s letter also faults a change to iMessage in family accounts, which would try to identify and blur nudity in children’s messages, letting them view it only if parents are notified.
The signers said the step could endanger children in intolerant homes or those seeking educational material. More broadly, they said the change will break end-to-end encryption for iMessage, which Apple has staunchly defended in other contexts.
“Once this backdoor feature is built in, governments could compel Apple to extend notification to other accounts, and to detect images that are objectionable for reasons other than being sexually explicit,” the letter says.
Other groups that signed include the American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Access Now, Privacy International, and the Tor Project.
Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Edwina Gibbs
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