Meta Platforms has started to roll out end-to-end encryption for all personal chats and calls on Messenger and Facebook. The end-to-end encryption feature will be available for use immediately, the social media giant said, but it may take some time for all Messenger accounts to be updated with default end-to-end encryption.
Messenger previously had the option to turn on end-to-end encryption, allowing a message to be read only by the sender and its recipients, but with this change messages would be encrypted by default, Meta said. Meta, whose WhatsApp platform already encrypts messages, has said encryption can help keep users safe from hackers, fraudsters and criminals.
End-to-end encryption has been a bone of contention between companies and governments. The British government had urged Meta in September not to roll out encryption on Instagram and Facebook Messenger without safety measures to protect children from sexual abuse.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Britain has urged Meta Platforms not to roll out end-to-end encryption on Instagram and Facebook Messenger without safety measures to protect children from sexual abuse after the Online Safety Bill was passed by parliament.
Meta, which already encrypts messages on WhatsApp, plans to implement end-to-end encryption across Messenger and Instagram direct messages, saying the technology re-enforced safety and security. Britain’s home secretary, Suella Braverman, said she supported strong encryption for online users but it could not come at the expense of children’s safety.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
Meta has failed to provide assurances that they will keep their platforms safe from sickening abusers
“Meta has failed to provide assurances that they will keep their platforms safe from sickening abusers,” she said. “They must develop appropriate safeguards to sit alongside their plans for end-to-end encryption.”
A Meta spokesman said: “The overwhelming majority of Brits already rely on apps that use encryption to keep them safe from hackers, fraudsters and criminals. We don’t think people want us reading their private messages so have spent the last five years developing robust safety measures to prevent, detect and combat abuse while maintaining online security.”
It said it would update on Wednesday on the measures it was taking, such as restricting people over 19 from messaging teens who do not follow them and using technology to identify and take action against malicious behaviour.
End-to-end encryption
“As we roll out end-to-end encryption, we expect to continue providing more reports to law enforcement than our peers due to our industry-leading work on keeping people safe,” the spokesman said.
Social media platforms will face tougher requirements to protect children from accessing harmful content when the Online Safety Bill passed by parliament on Tuesday becomes law.
End-to-end encryption is a bone of contention between companies and the government in the new law. Messaging platforms led by WhatsApp oppose a provision that they say could force them to break end-to-end encryption. The government, however, has said the bill does not ban the technology, but instead it requires companies to take action to stop child abuse and as a last resort develop technology to scan encrypted messages. Tech companies have said scanning messages and end-to-end encryption are fundamentally incompatible.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
