Instagram will scrap end-to-end encryption in its messaging service from May 8 — one of the biggest shake-ups to its social media service in three years. The change was quietly announced by parent company Meta, which also owns WhatsApp and Facebook, some of the most widely-used services on the planet, on the Help Pages for Instagram.
There was no formal announcement about the U-turn on encryption.
For those who don't know, end-to-end encryption is a technique that sees text messages, files, voice memos, or calls encrypted on-device before it's sent. Only the recipient can decrypt the incoming files, ensuring that nobody — including goverments, hackers, or bad actors on the same Wi-Fi network — can intercept your information in transit.
That includes Meta itself, which is unable to scan the contents of messages sent with end-to-end encryption.
As Instagram itself explains it: "End-to-end encrypted messages and calls ensure that only you and the people that you're communicating with can see or listen to what is sent, and no one else, not even Meta, can do so. Bear in mind that for reporting and optional features, you or someone in the chat may still choose to share messages with Meta."
From May 9 onwards, this extra layer of protection vanishes from direct messages sent to friends and family on Instagram. It means Meta will be able to see what you're saying in your Instagram messages, and removes protections that would otherwise keep what you're saying and sending under lock-and-key.
Instagram only introduced end-to-end encryption back in 2023, so this security boost has been relatively short-lived.
Instagram will remove end-to-end encryption from direct messages in May, leaving users' text messages, files, and voice memos to be scanned by parent company Meta if it chooses
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Meta first announced plans to introduce end-to-end encryption back in 2019 as part of a wider push to unify the behind-the-scenes technology that powers all of its messaging services, including Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. It took years to see the results of that work, and now it seems Meta has decided against the move.
A spokesperson for the company said: "Very few people were opting in to end-to-end encrypted messaging in DMs, so we're removing this option from Instagram in the coming months. Anyone who wants to keep messaging with end-to-end encryption can easily do that on WhatsApp."
It's likely there were other factors in the decision to cull end-to-end encryption from the biggest photo-sharing service on the planet. Meta has faced sustained criticism over several years as law enforcement agencies across the globe repeatedly raise concerns about encryption hampering their work.
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An alliance of authorities, including the FBI, Interpol, the UK's National Crime Agency, and the Australian Federal Police have all pushed back against the use of the technology. These organisations argue that strong encryption makes it harder to protect children online.
Tom Sulston, Head of Policy at Digital Rights Watch, believes the decision is a result of Meta deciding not to merge its messaging services into a single platform, rather than acquiescing to law enforcement demands.
He told The Guardian: "The fact that WhatsApp is staying encrypted suggests that Meta might be pivoting to segregating social media from chat a bit more – the main distinction being that social media users can discover each other, whereas chat users need to know each other first."
Money was also likely a factor, he added, with Meta now able to use message contents to determine advertising and train chatbots. He added: “They may not be doing that now, but the commercial pressure to do it is huge, so it feels inevitable that they will if they’re not already."
The shift marks a complete reversal from Instagram's previous privacy protections. Meta had previously promoted encrypted messaging across its platforms as a cornerstone of stronger security for users.
If you want to keep your messages locked away from prying eyes with ultra-secure end-to-end encryption, switch to WhatsApp, Apple's iMessage, Signal, or Discord, to name a few. These messaging apps all support this additional layer of protection to keep your text messages, files, videos, voice memos, and photos, from anyone other than the intended recipient. You've got until May 8 to make the switch from Instagram's messaging service.