Meta to End Instagram End-to-End Encryption, Use Chats for AI Training

Meta previously offered end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for Instagram direct messages, allowing only participants in a conversation to decipher them. The company has decided to discontinue the service because of low adoption. The shift affects about 2 billion users and would allow Meta to use chat data for AI training, content moderation and advertising, raising privacy concerns.

Meta said it will disable end-to-end encryption for Instagram direct messages on May 8, 2026. Reports cited regulatory pressure from the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA) as one of the main factors behind the decision. Once the feature is discontinued, existing and new conversations will no longer receive the same level of encryption protection, and the data could be used to train Meta’s AI models and support platform operations.