Meta, the company that owns social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, as well as the messaging app WhatsApp, has announced that plans to roll out end-to-end encryption by default on Messenger and Instagram won’t happen until 2023. Meta had unified the Messenger and the Instagram chats in an effort to provide what is called a “unified messaging system across all its platforms.”
However, at the time of the merger, although messages on Instagram and Messenger could still have end-to-end encryption, the feature was not available by default as it is with WhatsApp. Meta, then Facebook, said that it was working on a plan to make that happen. However, almost a year down the line, it seems we still need to wait a bit longer.
According to Antigone Davis, the head of safety at Meta, the current delay has largely been caused by growing concerns over user safety. He argues that end-to-end encryption is of course a good thing. But it could be used by bad actors to conduct criminal activities. Meta simply wants to roll end-to-end encryption in a manner that does not create an avenue for criminals to abuse Messenger and Instagram to conduct illegal activity.
It’s unclear how the company intends to achieve that. But according to Mr. Davis, Meta hopes to use a combination of “non encrypted data across all its apps, information about accounts, and reports by its users” to make its platform safe and free of any criminal activity. The issue of end-to-end encryption has also come under huge scrutiny from regulators and governments around the world.
Just last year, the US joined other countries in calling for greater access to end-to-end encryption. These governments argue that there should be a backdoor in end-to-end encryption that allows law enforcement officers to read messages of suspects if need be. This, according to these countries, can help reduce instances of child abuse and indecent content on social media.
Besides, if indeed law enforcement has access to end-to-end encryption, it could mean that criminals would be disincentivized from using such apps. But Meta is aware of how such a move could disenfranchise its users. Although there is a chance that end-to-end encryption could be abused by criminals, it is also one of the key cornerstones of privacy on these messaging apps.
After all, users these days have become very wary about their privacy online. If indeed they were to see law enforcement get a backdoor that could allow them to read user messages, then it's safe to say that many would feel a certain violation of privacy.
This could also deter many more users from using messenger apps that over the last few years have become quite popular. It is therefore a tough balancing act for Meta but one thing is clear, the company will launch end-to-end encryption regardless of the safety concerns it has at the moment. But it will take some time with the earliest estimates looking at a possible 2022 or 2023 launch.
