LONDON – Instagram, the social giant with 3 billion monthly active users, made changes to its privae messages.
Imagine sending a private message on IG, thinking it will secure like WhatsApp, but it is not as Meta quietly decided to end end-to-end encryption for Instagram DMs, effective May 8. Messages that were once secure will be fully exposed, and users are being urged to save any chats or media they want to keep.
Meta is scrapping end-to-end encryption for Instagram direct messages. All previously encrypted chats will lose their protection, leaving user conversations vulnerable. The announcement came quietly via a Help Center update, with no official press release.
Users are urged to download any media or messages they wish to save before the deadline, and older app versions may require an update to access this export feature.
Instagram first rolled out encrypted DMs in 2021 under CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s privacy-focused vision, but the feature was optional and limited to select regions. Meta says the decision stems from extremely low adoption, making it unsustainable to maintain.
Meta now recommends that privacy-conscious users switch to WhatsApp, where encryption remains standard. This move highlights the company’s strategy: Instagram for casual chats, WhatsApp for secure messaging.
Tech geeks warn this could allow Meta to scan messages for illegal content and provide authorities access when requested. Experts also worry that unencrypted DMs could train AI models, and question whether WhatsApp might face the same fate.
The change comes as some platforms are expanding encryption, while Instagram moves in the opposite direction. Meta has not clarified if encrypted voice or video calls on Instagram, or similar changes to Facebook Messenger, are in the pipeline.
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