Facebook has been paid 639,000 euros for a campaign against Facebook’s plans to provide Facebook and Instagram Messenger with end-to-end encryption as standard. This is evident from information released by the British Home Office.

Last week, several ‘child protection’ organizations launched the campaign “No Place to Hide”with the money of the British government. In doing so, the organizations want social media companies to confirm that they are not rolling out end-to-end encryption until they have technology in place to ensure that children are not at risk. By children they mean security apparatus and governmental sniffers.

The campaign was previously criticized by the British privacy regulator ICO. The U.S. Civil Rights Movement, EFF, is also involved. According to the EFF, the campaign is yet another attempt by U.S. and UK law enforcement agencies to force private companies to scan all messages users send online.

“Every year, more and more people realize that end-to-end encryption is essential for a secure and private life on the internet. Without strong encryption, we have no real privacy in the digital world, ” says Joe Mullin of the civil rights movement. “Without the opportunity to have a private conversation, we have no room for real freedom of speech and democracy will be under pressure.”

The EFF hopes that Facebook will quickly finalize plans to enable standard end-to-end encryption and that policymakers will stop criticizing encryption in the name of “protecting children”, or be forced to do so by an audience that demands genuine privacy and security.