Signal, WhatsApp and other encrypted chat apps have come together to sign a letter warning of privacy risks associated with the UK’s new online safety bill.

In the letter, the app-makers said the bill, as it currently stands, fails to protect citizens’ rights to privacy by effectively breaking end-to-end encryption and secure communication. Executives at Threema, Wire, Viber, Session, Element, WhatsApp and Signal signed the letter published Tuesday. 

The UK’s ambitious online safety bill, which is working its way through Parliament, aims to keep people, especially children, safe online by requiring tech companies to protect users from illegal content and activity, including certain types of pornography and fraud. However, critics of the legislation say it poses a risk to cybersecurity and freedom of speech. 

The app-makers also said the