Meta is abolishing secure direct messages on Instagram

The social network Instagram will soon no longer be able to communicate securely with other users via direct messages. The ability to encrypt this channel end-to-end will soon be completely eliminated.

It’s over from May

As indicated by an entry in the service’s help section, the feature will be completely phased out after May 8, 2026. This means that the company is moving away from previous announcements of placing greater emphasis on particularly protected communication within its platforms. However, the encryption function was only available to a limited extent on Instagram anyway. The first tests began in 2021 as part of a strategy for more privacy in social networks announced by Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg. A broader rollout followed at the end of 2023, but only as a voluntary option and only in selected regions. The function was never activated by default.

According to a company spokesperson, the resulting low usage played a crucial role in the decision. Only a few users actively switched on the encrypted chats. The option will therefore be removed in the coming months. With end-to-end encryption enabled, only participants in a conversation could read the content or listen to voice calls. Neither state authorities nor law enforcement agencies nor Meta itself had technical access to these messages. After the function is removed, Instagram messages will be saved again in the conventional format and can generally be viewed by Meta for content moderation or internal processes.

Export possible

Users who are currently using encrypted chats should be notified within the app. They can download their messages and shared media before the deadline. It remains unclear whether the encrypted conversations will be permanently deleted after May 8th. If you use an older version of the app, you may need to update it in order to still be able to export the data. The decision has met with criticism in IT security research. Johns Hopkins University cryptography expert Matthew Green said publicly that the move suggests Meta is scaling back its previously emphasized support for strong encryption.

Observers also point to the political context. In many countries, pressure is growing on platform operators to implement stricter rules, for example on age verification and the protection of minors. Some researchers suspect that abandoning encrypted messages could also open up expanded possibilities for Meta to automatically check content or use chat data for AI systems in the future. The group refers data protection-conscious users to the WhatsApp messenger service, where end-to-end encryption is activated by default. It also remains available for personal one-on-one chats on Facebook Messenger.