Instagram disables end-to-end encryption for direct messages

Instagram has disabled end-to-end encryption for direct messages as of May 8, according to the platform's help center.

Users whose chats are affected will see instructions for downloading any media files and messages they want to keep. Those on older versions of the Instagram app may need to update before they can export their chat history.

Meta first announced plans to remove end-to-end encryption from Instagram direct messages back in March. Company spokesperson Dina El-Kassaby Luce told The Verge that the decision was driven by low adoption, explaining that "very few people" were actually using the feature.

"Anyone who wants to keep messaging with end-to-end encryption can easily do that on WhatsApp," she said.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg first laid out plans to bring end-to-end encryption to the company's platforms back in 2019, but the rollout didn't begin until 2023, The Guardian notes. At the time, Meta faced pushback from child safety groups and a coalition of law enforcement agencies, who argued that encryption could weaken efforts to protect children online.

Tom Sulston, head of policy at Digital Rights Watch, told The Guardian in March that the decision to disable encryption on Instagram was more likely tied to Meta's decision to abandon plans to merge WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram onto a single platform, rather than a concession to law enforcement demands.

In late January, Bloomberg reported that an international group of plaintiffs had filed suit against Meta, alleging that the company's privacy and security claims about WhatsApp were misleading. Meta called the lawsuit baseless and said the messenger has used end-to-end encryption for over a decade.