Meta Begins Full Rollout of End-to-End Encryption for Messenger and Instagram

The move, aimed at increasing user privacy, has been met with criticism over potential limitations to necessary oversight and police investigations.

Meta has begun the full rollout of end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for its Messenger and Instagram chat services, a project that has been in development since 2016.
E2EE ensures that messages are only readable on the devices of the sender and recipient, making them unintelligible to anyone else, including Meta itself.
The rollout will initially apply to direct messages between two accounts, with group chats remaining opt-in for E2EE for the time being.
Meta has developed an encrypted storage protocol, 'Labyrinth', which allows users' chat histories to be stored on its servers in an encrypted form that is inaccessible to the company.
Despite the increased privacy, critics argue that E2EE limits necessary oversight and impedes crucial police investigations.