Meta Threatens to Withdraw WhatsApp from Sweden Over Proposed Surveillance Law

Meta isn’t in the habit of walking away from markets. But in Sweden, the company is drawing a hard line. If the government moves forward with a proposed surveillance law requiring backdoor access to encrypted messages, WhatsApp may pull out of the country entirely.

Janne Elvelid, Meta’s head of policy in Sweden, didn’t mince words when speaking to journalist Emanuel Karlsten:

“We’re doing everything we can to support the police in their work against crime,” Elvelid said. “But that doesn’t mean that we’re going to compromise on safety and privacy for our users. We’re willing to accept that our services may not be available everywhere or in every country if that is the price for keeping our promise to users that our chat services will be secure.”

The statement is as much a warning to Sweden as it is a declaration of Meta’s broader strategy. The company, which owns both WhatsApp and Messenger, thrives in markets where it can dictate the terms of engagement. It has fought similar battles before, resisting government demands for data access under the guise of protecting users, all while continuing to collect vast amounts of metadata for its own purposes.