Facebook takes Apple’s side in privacy fight with FBI

The company recently announced that it would stop charging customers a $1 subscription fee. WhatsApp had previously given people just one free year of the service before charging the $1 annual fee.

(CNN) — Facebook is the latest Silicon Valley company to stand with Apple, which is fighting an order to help the FBI break into the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters.

On Thursday, Facebook issued a statement saying such demands from the government “create a chilling precedent and obstruct companies’ efforts to secure their products,” said a spokesperson. Although Facebook reinforced that it does comply with lawful requests from authorities, “we will continue to fight aggressively against requirements for companies to weaken the security of their systems.”

The company also condemned terrorism: “Those who seek to praise, promote, or plan terrorist acts have no place on our services.”

Both Google and Twitter have also come out in support of Apple.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted, “We stand with @tim_cook and Apple (and thank him for his leadership)!”

On Wednesday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai also posted a series of tweets supporting Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Pichai acknowledged that while law enforcement faces “significant challenges” to protect the public, “forcing companies to enable hacking could compromise users’ privacy,” Pichai said in the first of five tweets.

The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved. (Photo: CNN)

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