U.K. Home Secretary Defends Controversial Surveillance Bill, Says It Will Stop Cyber Bullies

Privacy advocates and tech companies are speaking out vociferously against the U.K.’s new surveillance bill, but the country’s Home Secretary, Theresa May, says there’s no reason to worry. In a letter obtained by The Times, May says the Investigatory Powers Bill, as it’s called, won’t be put to use for just spying on citizens. Rather, it’ll help track down online bullies and trolls.

She described cyber bullying as a “pernicious” issue and reportedly wrote: “Internet connection records would update the capability of law enforcement in a criminal investigation to determine the sender and recipient of a communication, for example, a malicious message such as those exchanged in cyber bullying.”

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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