Facebook begins testing default end-to-end encryption on Messenger

Image: Meta

According to an update on its long-awaited plans to turn on end-to-end encryption by default in its Messenger chat platform, it has begun testing the feature for chats between some people.

Facebook currently offers Messenger users the option to turn on E2EE on a per-chat basis, but such opt-in schemes are only accepted by a minority. Adding a layer of security to a chat platform used by more than a billion people will be a big step. It is likely to cause arguments with governments who claim that E2EE makes it harder to fight crime.

Facebook cannot see the content of its users' messages because of end- to-end encryption. It's harder for third parties to snoop on digital conversations because of this.

Meta has been adding more layers of security to its various chat platforms but these efforts have not yet been unified. Messenger offers E2EE via its "disappearing messages" feature, as well as opting in to the industry standard secure messenger Signal, which is used to protect chats onWhatsApp. The app used to offer a similar mode, but it is being removed.

Facebook has come under fire for not making E2EE default on Messenger in the wake of the reversal of the abortion law in the US. This was highlighted in a case this week, where Facebook complied with a police search warrant to hand over the Messenger chat history of a Nebraska teen and her mother, leading to their prosecution for charges related to the state's abortion laws.

It has taken Facebook a long time to make E2EE default on all of its chat platforms because of the need to balance user privacy with safety. In its update today, the company said that it is on track to make E2EE the default for all chats and calls.

There is a new test of default E2EE, as well as a feature called "secure storage" that will protect users' chat history.

In case you lose your phone or want to restore your message history, the company is testing secure storage to back up those messages. Unless you report them to us, we won't have access to your messages.

The ability to unsend messages is one of the new features being tested on Messenger.