INVESTIGATINGTechnologyMeta announced it will remove end-to-end encryption from Instagram direct messages starting May 2026, making billions of private conversations readable by the company, advertisers, and law enforcement.
“Meta announced it will remove end-to-end encryption from Instagram direct messages starting May 2026, making billions of private conversations readable by the company, advertisers, and law enforcement.”
Meta announced it will remove end-to-end encryption from Instagram direct messages starting May 2026. That means every message you send — every photo, every confession, every private conversation — will be readable by Meta, its advertising partners, and any government that asks.
End-to-end encryption means only you and the person you're messaging can read the conversation. Not Meta. Not hackers. Not the government. When Meta removes it, every Instagram DM becomes an open book for anyone with access to Meta's servers.
Instagram has over 2 billion monthly active users. DMs are how people share their most private thoughts, photos, and conversations. Removing encryption on that scale means billions of private conversations are suddenly accessible to corporate and government surveillance.
Meta will frame this as a child safety measure. But end-to-end encryption doesn't prevent Meta from detecting harmful behavior through metadata, behavioral signals, and user reports. Removing encryption doesn't make children safer — it makes everyone's private conversations less private.
First they build the encrypted platform to attract users who value privacy. Then, once billions are locked into the ecosystem, they remove the encryption. By the time it happens, switching to a different platform means losing your entire social network. They build the trap, then close the door.
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