The UK government is not anti-encryption, according to Michelle Donelan.
The 39-year-old politician - who serves as the UK's Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology - has defended a controversial section of the Online Safety Bill, which allows the regulator Ofcom to access the content of private messages.
Michelle told the BBC: "I, like you, want my privacy because I don't want people reading my private messages. They'd be very bored but I don't want them to do it.
"However we do know that on some of these platforms, they are hotbeds sometimes for child abuse and sexual exploitation. And we have to be able access that information should that problem occur."
Meanwhile, Richard Collard - the head of child safety online policy at the NSPCC, the children's charity - claims that the British public is "overwhelmingly supportive" of efforts to tackle child abuse through encrypted platforms.
Collard urged firms to invest in technology that "protects both the safety and privacy rights of all users".
He said: "Tech firms should be showing industry leadership by listening to the public and investing in technology that protects both the safety and privacy rights of all users."
