Instagram will turn off end-to-end encryption of private messages in May

CEO Mark Zuckerberg first announced his intention to implement end-to-end encryption across all Meta services back in 2019, but the company only began practical implementation in 2023. Meta’s services have been criticized by child protection organizations and law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, Interpol, the UK National Crime Agency and the Australian Federal Police. They argued that introducing encryption could make it more difficult to protect children online.

A spokesman for Australia’s internet safety regulator said strong encryption was important to preserve privacy, but platforms had a responsibility to simultaneously prevent, detect and stop malicious activity. Implementing end-to-end encryption without additional security mechanisms could increase risks and make it harder to detect threats such as child sexual exploitation, terrorism and violent extremism, he said. He emphasized that, despite the fact that this is a business decision, the responsibility for the safety of users is not removed from companies.

The head of policy at Digital Rights Watch, Tom Sulston, believes that the refusal to encrypt has less to do with pressure from law enforcement and more to do with Meta’s decision not to combine WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram messengers into a single platform. He also admitted that the decision could be influenced by financial factors: the company could potentially use the contents of the correspondence to more accurately customize advertising and train chatbots. In his opinion, even if this is not being done now, commercial pressure in the future may push the company to such steps.