Meta has quietly removed a feature it once promoted as an important step for privacy.
If you use Instagram to send direct messages to friends or family, the platform no longer offers end-to-end encryption for those conversations. As of May 8, Instagram has removed the end-to-end encryption option for direct messages, reversing a decision that parent company Meta announced back in 2019.
This type of encryption ensured that messages sent on Instagram could only be read by the sender and recipient. The same technology is used as standard on WhatsApp, while it is available on Facebook Messenger for private messages.
However, on Instagram this feature was never automatically enabled. It existed as a hidden option that users had to choose themselves. A similar model is used by Telegram.
Instagram has announced on its support page that users affected by this change will see instructions on how they can download the media or messages they want to save.
A Meta spokesperson told PCMag that the decision to remove this option was made because very few people were using end-to-end encryption in Instagram Direct Messages. According to the company, those who want to continue communicating with this level of protection can easily do so through WhatsApp.
But privacy experts see the decision differently. Matthew Hodgson, co-founder and CEO of secure communications platform Element, called the “low usage” excuse a typical distraction from big tech companies.
According to him, if the future were truly private, privacy would be standard, not a hidden option that the company can remove when it suits them. He added that this change shows that, if the user does not control their own encryption keys, they do not truly control their own data.
Mark Zuckerberg announced plans in 2019 for Meta, then still called Facebook, to bring end-to-end encryption to its products, declaring that “the future is private.” The technology was later introduced to Facebook Messenger and Instagram, but with its removal from Instagram, the situation changes significantly.
In practice, without end-to-end encryption, Meta has the technical ability to access the content of communications in Instagram direct messages. This does not necessarily mean that the company actively reads all conversations, but the level of protection is no longer the same.
Hodgson called this a major departure from the promise of privacy. Turning off encryption, he said, is a surrender to surveillance and a gift to artificial intelligence training systems. He argues that Meta is deciding that data extracted from messages and voice notes is worth more than the fundamental right to a private conversation.
Other popular products, such as Google's Gmail, are also not end-to-end encrypted. This allows companies to use the data for targeted advertising and increasingly personalized artificial intelligence services. Google has argued that without access to the content of emails, it cannot provide personalized services to users.
On the other hand, Meta's WhatsApp, Apple's iMessage, and the Signal app continue to offer end-to-end encrypted communication. For users who prioritize privacy, these remain safer alternatives to Instagram direct messages. /GazetaExpress/
t7 live
