Meta decided to remove the end-to-end encryption feature from Instagram conversations, in a surprising move, especially after the company had previously promoted the adoption of this type of encryption in its services.
Instagram did not announce the decision through an official statement or blog post, but rather updated its help page to clarify that support for end-to-end encryption of conversations will stop starting on May 8.
According to the published information, users whose conversations are affected by this change will see a notification explaining how to download messages or media that they may want to keep before stopping the feature.
Previously, end-to-end encryption ensured that the content of messages remained visible only to users participating in the conversation, so that no other party, including the company itself, could see it.
With the cancellation of this feature, Meta will be able to access the content of messages exchanged via Instagram, and this data may also be shared with government agencies upon request.
