Instagram will discontinue end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for direct messages on May 8th, citing low usage of the feature. Meta advises users who want encrypted messaging to switch to WhatsApp and recommends downloading existing E2EE chats before the change.
The removal occurs amid increasing regulatory pressure concerning child safety, with officials arguing E2EE hampers the detection of harmful content. Legal actions in several U.S. states and regulatory threats in the UK highlight the broader conflict between privacy features and safety enforcement.
Main topics: Instagram ending E2EE encryption, user guidance to switch to WhatsApp, and the regulatory pressure on encryption related to child safety concerns.
Instagram will no longer support end-to-end encrypted messages starting May 8th. In a statement to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Dina El-Kassaby Luce says the platform is discontinuing the feature because “very few people” were using E2EE in their DMs.
Instagram is getting rid of end-to-end encrypted DMs that ‘very few’ people used
If you still want end-to-end encrypted messaging, you should use WhatsApp, according to Meta.
If you still want end-to-end encrypted messaging, you should use WhatsApp, according to Meta.
Instagram has begun notifying impacted users about the change inside its app, and has also posted an update to its support page, suggesting that users download E2EE chats and images before it discontinues the feature, as spotted earlier by PiunikaWeb. “Anyone who wants to keep messaging with end-to-end encryption can easily do that on WhatsApp,” El-Kassaby Luce adds.
After bringing E2EE to WhatsApp and Messenger, Meta began rolling out the feature to Instagram in 2023, preventing third parties — including Meta — from viewing your messages. But as regulators around the globe pressure social platforms to ramp up child safety features, E2EE has become one of their targets. In 2024, the Nevada Attorney General filed a motion to ban Meta from offering E2EE to minors, while New Mexico’s AG recently accused the company of knowing E2EE “would make its platforms less safe by preventing it from detecting and reporting child sexual exploitation.”
The UK also poses a threat to E2EE, too, as the country reportedly ordered Apple to allow backdoor access to iCloud data last year.
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