Meta has announced plans to discontinue support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for chats on Instagram after May 8, 2026.
"If you have chats that are impacted by this change, you will see instructions on how you can download any media or messages you may want to keep," the social media giant said in a help document. "If you're on an older version of Instagram, you may also need to update the app before you can download your affected chats."
The American company first began testing E2EE for Instagram direct messages in 2021 as part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg's "privacy-focused vision for social networking." The feature is currently "only available in some areas" and is not enabled by default.
Weeks into the Russo-Ukrainian war in February 2022, the company made encrypted direct messaging available to all adult users in both countries.
The development comes days after TikTok said it does not plan to introduce E2EE to secure direct messages on the platform, telling BBC News that the technology makes users less safe and that it wants to protect users, especially young people, from harm.
Late last month, Reuters also reported that Meta proceeded with plans to adopt encryption messaging services in Facebook and Instagram despite internal warnings in 2019 that doing so would hinder the company's ability to detect illegal activities, such as child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or terrorist propaganda, and flag them to law enforcement.
E2EE has been hailed as a win for privacy, as it ensures that only communicating users can decrypt and read messages, thereby locking out service providers, bad actors, and other third parties from accessing or intercepting the data.
However, law enforcement and child safety advocates have argued that the technology creates a safe space for criminals, as it prevents companies from complying with warrants to turn over message content – a problem referred to as the "Going Dark" phenomenon.
This year, the European Commission is expected to present a Technology Roadmap on encryption to identify and evaluate solutions that enable lawful access to encrypted data by law enforcement, while safeguarding cybersecurity and fundamental rights.
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