Overview
- Instagram turned off end-to-end encrypted direct messages on Friday, May 8, after notifying affected users to download their chats.
- Meta said very few people opted in to the feature and directed users who want encrypted messaging to WhatsApp, which remains encrypted by default.
- The removal landed 11 days before the U.S. Take It Down Act compliance deadline, a timing analysts say positions Instagram to detect and remove reported intimate images.
- With encryption gone, Instagram can read message content including texts, images, videos and voice notes, which privacy advocates warn could feed advertising or AI uses despite company assurances.
- Meta has not explained what happens to old encrypted threads that are not exported, and experts note downloaded archives lose protection if saved to common cloud backups.