Main points
- Meta is discontinuing support for end-to-end encryption of Instagram messages as of May 8, without providing an official explanation for the reasons.
- The decision may be related to changes in the messenger merger strategy and antitrust disputes in the US, where the regulator demanded the separation of Instagram and WhatsApp.
Instagram will no longer have end-to-end messaging protection / Unsplash / Brett Jordan
Meta is ending support for end-to-end encryption on Instagram. Users are receiving a notification that the feature will disappear on May 8. The company did not explain the reasons, but the decision may be related to changes in the messenger unification strategy.
Instagram will no longer support end-to-end encryption for private messages. The app already displays warnings that this level of protection will be unavailable after May 8. The relevant information has also been added to the platform's help materials. This was reported by Instagram support.
Why is the company abandoning secure messaging?
Meta began rolling out message encryption to Instagram in August 2022. It was part of a larger plan to integrate all of the company’s messaging services – WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram – into a common infrastructure. It was intended to provide them with the same security standards, including full end-to-end encryption , which is already used on WhatsApp.
However, the increased protections raised concerns among law enforcement and regulators, who believed that strong encryption could make it harder to investigate crimes and conceal illegal activity. Despite this, Meta continued to move toward making E2E encryption standard across all of its services until recently.
As Social Media Today writes, the company now appears to have changed course and is no longer seeking to unify the platforms into a single system. There is no official explanation, but experts link the decision to antitrust disputes in the US .
Back in 2020, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Meta, accusing it of illegally maintaining a monopoly by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp to eliminate competitors. The regulator demanded that these services be separated.
In response, Meta began integrating its messengers into a single system, which would have complicated a possible forced separation of the business . But in November last year, the company won the case in court, although the regulator is appealing the decision. After that, interest in a large-scale merger of services noticeably decreased, which could have led to the abandonment of encryption on Instagram.