Instagram is making a controversial change to its privacy practices.
Starting Friday, the platform will remove end-to-end encryption for direct messages between users, potentially allowing Meta to access the contents of those chats, according to MacRumors.
Encrypted DMs have been available as an opt-in feature on Instagram since 2023. While not all users enabled it, the setting allowed those who did to keep conversations private from the platform itself. With the change, that added layer of protection is disappearing.
End-to-end encryption protects messages while they travel between devices, meaning no intermediary — including the company operating the app — can read them.
Once Instagram removes the feature, the barrier between user conversations and Meta will no longer exist.
Instagram quietly updated a help page in March, stating that encrypted chats would no longer be available after May 8.
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The company said affected users will receive in-app instructions for downloading any media or messages they want to save. However, Meta has not clearly explained why encrypted chats need to be downloaded before the cutoff or what will happen to them afterward.
"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," a Meta spokesperson told the Guardian. "Anyone who wants to keep messaging with end-to-end encryption can easily do that on WhatsApp."
That explanation may sound simple, but it raises a broader question: Should a privacy feature disappear simply because it was optional rather than universal?
Meta has faced years of pressure from law enforcement and child safety groups over encryption.
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At the same time, gaining visibility into direct messages could offer business advantages, including the potential to improve advertising systems or train chatbot products.
That makes this more than a minor settings change. For many users, Instagram DMs contain private photos, personal updates, plans with family and friends, and other sensitive conversations.
Removing encryption shifts more risk onto users while expanding what a massive tech company could access inside an app millions of users use every day to communicate.
It also marks a notable reversal from Meta's earlier public push for stronger encryption across its messaging products.
WhatsApp still uses end-to-end encryption by default, and Facebook Messenger group chats continue to offer it as an opt-in feature.
On Instagram, however, privacy is being reduced — a move critics said prioritizes convenience and business flexibility over user privacy.
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