Instagram has officially disabled the end-to-end encryption (E2EE) feature for direct messages, significantly changing the platform’s privacy policy starting this Friday (8). With the change, the social network, controlled by Meta, now has access to the full content of DMs, including texts, images, videos and audio sent by users.
Essa’s decision represents a turnaround in Meta’s stance, which previously advocated the expansion of end-to-end encryption as a fundamental pillar of online privacy. The measure generated opposing reactions, dividing digital security experts and organizations that work to protect children and adolescents.
Mudança in Meta’s privacy policy
End-to-end encryption is recognized as the most secure method for exchanging messages on the internet. Ela ensures that only the sender and recipient can view the content of a communication, preventing access by third parties, including the service provider itself.
In 2019, Meta had promised to extend this technology to Facebook and Instagram’s messaging platforms, reinforcing the idea that “the future is private.” The company completed implementation on Facebook Messenger in 2023, and on Instagram, the feature was made available as an option, with plans to become standard.
Contudo, after seven years, the company gave up on expanding the functionality in Instagram. Agora, the platform adopts only standard encryption, a system common in many online services, such as Gmail, which allows service providers to access content under certain circumstances.
Reações deviating from feature deactivation
Meta’s decision to remove end-to-end encryption from Instagram was welcomed by child protection groups and condemned by privacy advocates. Organizações as well as Sociedade Nacional of Proteção of Crianças Contra Crueldade (NSPCC) of Reino Unido expressed support for the measure.
NSPCC representative Rani Govender said end-to-end encryption “could allow perpetrators to go undetected.” Ela emphasized that this meant that grooming and child abuse could go unnoticed, which would justify the company’s action.
On the other hand, privacy advocates expressed disappointment with the change. Maya Thomas, from the British NGO Big Brother Watch, called end-to-end encryption one of “the main ways children can protect their data on the internet.” The activist also raised concerns about the possibility that Meta was giving in to government pressure.
Razões behind the platform’s strategic turn
Meta justified the removal of E2EE on Instagram by claiming low user adoption of the feature. The company announced that “end-to-end encrypted messages on Instagram will no longer be supported after May 8, 2026,” and that instructions would be provided for downloading important media or messages.
Especialistas, like Victoria Baines in cybersecurity, suggests that the decision may be more complex than a simple lack of interest from users. Segundo Baines, social media platforms monetize communications and posts to drive targeted advertising. Além Additionally, Meta has focused on training artificial intelligence (AI) models, for which messaging data could be “extremely valuable.”
The company quietly updated the app’s terms and conditions in March without a public announcement of the change. Instagram, in turn, had already stated that direct messages were not used to train its AI systems. Instagram boss Adam Mosseri declined interview requests to comment on the decision.
The encryption landscape on other social networks
Meta’s decision could influence the social media industry, which until recently saw the expansion of end-to-end encryption as a natural direction for the sector. The technology giant’s move could slow down this spread, confining E2EE mainly to apps dedicated to messaging.
Muitas platforms already adopt or plan to implement end-to-end encryption, while others offer the feature as an option:
- Padrão:Signal, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, iMessage (Apple) and Google Messages.
- Opcional:Telegram makes the functionality available, but not standard for all conversations.
- Semelhante:X (formerly Twitter) has a direct messaging system, although critics question whether it meets industry standards for security.
- Expanding:Snapchat uses the technology for photos and videos sent via DMs and plans to extend it to text messages. Discord plans to make E2EE-protected voice and video calls standard.
- Sem plans:TikTok reported in March that it had no plans to implement the technology in direct messages.
Analistas, including Victoria Baines, believe that Meta’s decision could result in end-to-end encryption being restricted, in the future, to applications whose main purpose is the exchange of secure messages.
