Meta has abandoned its “privacy-focused vision” for messaging on Instagram, permanently removing the option for users to enable end-to-end encryption in direct messages.

The change means Meta can now access and read messages sent through Instagram.

The company has faced sustained pressure from law enforcement agencies and child safety groups over encrypted messaging, although a spokesperson said the feature was removed because few users enabled it.

“Very few people were opting in to end-to-end encrypted messaging in DMs, so we’re removing this option,” the spokesperson said.

“Anyone who wants to keep messaging with end-to-end encryption can easily do that on WhatsApp.”

No more secret messages

End-to-end encryption ensures that only the sender and recipient of a message can read it, preventing even the platform itself from accessing the content. Messages are scrambled on the sender’s device and can only be unscrambled with a digital key held by the recipient.

With the change, the major messaging services still offering end-to-end encryption include Facebook Messenger, Apple’s iMessage, WhatsApp and Signal.

Encryption was introduced to Instagram as an optional feature in 2023, following a 2019 pledge by CEO Mark Zuckerberg to build a more privacy-focused company.

At the time, Zuckerberg said “people’s private communications should be secure” and outlined a broader push toward privacy-focused messaging.

Meta now appears to have reversed that approach, instead directing users seeking encrypted communication to WhatsApp.

In a previous progress report on its privacy policies, Meta said encryption was “about protecting people’s communications, so they can feel safe expressing themselves with their friends and loved ones”.

The removal of encryption on Instagram was quietly disclosed earlier this year through an update to the app’s help pages.

The previous page had stated encryption “adds extra security and protection to your messages and calls in a chat so that only you and whoever you’re talking to can see, hear or read them”.

How to keep your messages

Users who enabled encrypted chats have been warned to back up or export their conversations before they are deleted permanently.

Those affected will receive notifications with instructions on how to download their chat histories.

Users running older versions of the Instagram app have also been advised to update the software to avoid losing messages.

A spokesperson for the eSafety Commissioner said platforms still had a responsibility to protect users regardless of whether encryption was enabled.

“Where end-to-end encryption is implemented without appropriate safety measures, it can increase safety risks and prevent the identification of harms such as child sexual exploitation, terrorism and violent extremism,” the spokesperson said.

“Ultimately, whether to deploy end-to-end encryption is a business and design choice for platforms, but it does not remove a platform’s responsibility to prevent harm.”

Meta is still rolling out default end-to-end encryption on Facebook Messenger, where all personal chats are expected to become encrypted by default.

In late 2024, Instagram introduced Teen Accounts for underage users, allowing parents to monitor who their children are communicating with, set daily usage limits, restrict nighttime access and review the types of content recommended by the platform’s algorithms.

Meta recently revealed plans to use artificial intelligence to estimate whether users are underage by scanning photos and videos for “visual clues”, including height and bone structure.