they're arguing that the proposed law will allow the indiscriminate surveillance of personal messages. our technology correspondent shiona mccallumaround private messaging. so if i send you a what's app and you send me one back, it is only me and you that can read those messages. not even the 3pp read those messages. not even the app providers can infiltrate and see our messages. under the bill as it stands, of, can ask the tech companies to root out child abuse and look for illegal content. this is the key bit, they say if they were to do that, then they would start looking at error messages, it would be effectively mass surveillance, that would break encryption and that fundamental principle that their companies are based on. they say, we are not prepared to do that. to make one have told me that they would rather walk away from the uk market —— whatsapp have told me. nancy encryption undermined. it is a stalemate between what the government are asking and what the tech companies are prepared to do. just now, the government are saying they are defending that proposal for they are defending that proposal for the online safety bi