Meta Launches End-to-End Encryption for Facebook and Messenger

Facts

• Meta Platforms has begun rolling out default end-to-end encryption on Messenger and Facebook, a service the tech giant claimed was 'safer, more secure, and private.'¹
• According to Loredana Crisan, the head of Messenger at Meta, the social media company can no longer access users' calls and chats except when someone chooses to report a message to Meta.²
• The feature, which is built on Signal's protocol, as well as Meta's own 'Labyrinth' protocol, will reportedly take months to cover Facebook's over a billion users.³
• Group chat encryption remains an opt-in feature, while Instagram messages remain unencrypted by default. However, Meta has said this will change 'shortly after' end-to-end encryption is rolled out for Messenger.⁴
• Meta claims its end-to-end encryption service would 'protect messages against non-members' and allow users to store their messages server-side as well as maintain 'strong privacy.'⁵

Sources: ¹Meta, ²Forbes, ³The Guardian, ⁴Verge and ⁵The Hacker News.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Forbes. Though Meta hasn't admitted that Facebook and its Messenger are unsecured, more than a billion users of its platform were vulnerable to abuse from all sides — from criminals and overbearing governments. Users must always choose apps and platforms that prioritize security and privacy — Meta has finally ticked that important box.
• Narrative B, as provided by The Guardian. Meta must surely see the danger in trading off user safety for the larger idea of privacy. The company's platforms have, in the past, helped track and corner sexual abusers only because of a lack of encryption. Now that Meta has crossed to the dark side, the world's law enforcement agencies will be left in the lurch on this front.

Predictions