In a major privacy upset, Meta has moved to remove end-to-end encryption on direct messages in Instagram. According to an announcement on its help page, Meta says that starting May 8th, direct messages can now be accessed by Meta themselves and even government agencies in cases of investigations.
Meta says that if you really value E2EE, it’s better to use WhatsApp rather than use the direct messaging feature of Instagram. However, the move is a far cry from the “privacy-focused vision” laid out by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2019. It raises the question of whether Instagram will be the casualty or if it is the first of many.
Why The Move?
Meta says that there aren’t really many people that use the feature, so removing it wouldn’t really change anything. Plus, if you really value that kind of stuff, then you’d be better off with WhatsApp.
However, industry insiders suggest a deeper motive behind the removal of E2EE. One is that Meta is trying to appease law enforcement agencies which have hounded the company for a while due to concerns of a blind spot in the detection of child exploitation and extremist content.
Another theory revolves around Meta training AI chatbots with the data they’ve collected or refining its advertising algorithms, which is a big revenue stream for the company.
What Happens Next?
The removal won’t happen until May 8 and average Instagram users wouldn’t really notice much. Although, if I were you, I’d be more careful of what I say and do in the DMs. Instead of sliding in the DMs, you’ll now be crawling…
I find it quite disappointing that Instagram would remove the feature rather than finding ways to improve safety on the app. It’s a lazy move that opens users to the risk of getting their data sold off to the highest bidder. More importantly, it chips away at user trust at a time when privacy is already under scrutiny, and it makes you wonder how much control we really have over our own conversations.