As explained by Euronews, end-to-end encryption ensures the security of correspondence, as only the recipients can read the messages. Neither the platforms nor third-party hackers have access to the content of the correspondence.
Each device in an encrypted chat has its unique key, which guarantees the security of communication. When a message is sent, it is "locked" on the sender's device, and only the recipient's device can unlock it. This means that Meta does not have the ability to read such messages, as stated in the company's information (source in English).
According to the Instagram help center (source in English), support for end-to-end encryption will be discontinued after May 8. Euronews Next attempted to obtain a comment from Meta regarding changes in encryption policy, but no response was received.
These changes will allow Meta to access the content of users' messages, whereas previously such access existed only for unencrypted chats.
In 2019, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced (source in English) the intention to transition platforms like Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp to encrypted communication, but this plan was only realized in 2023.
However, the plans for implementing encryption have sparked protests from several organizations, including the British Internet Watch Foundation (source in English) (IWF), the UK National Child Protection Task Force (source in English), and the international alliance Virtual Global Taskforce, consisting of 15 law enforcement agencies.
These organizations argue that encryption makes it difficult for police to track child sexual abuse material (CSAM) that may be distributed through social networks.
The Virtual Global Taskforce characterized Meta's decision to implement encryption as a "conscious design choice that reduces the effectiveness of security systems and weakens protections for users—children," as stated in a statement (source in English) published in 2024.
End-to-end encryption is available by default in messaging apps like Signal (source in English), Apple’s iMessage (source in English), Google Messages (source in English), and on other Meta platforms such as WhatsApp (source in English) and Facebook Messenger (source in English).
The record about Meta discontinuing end-to-end encryption for direct messages on Instagram first appeared on K-News.
