Photo illustration by Thiago Prudncio/SOPA Images/LightRocket.
The Guardian reported that Meta doesn't plan to roll out end-to-end encryption by default on Messenger and Instagram until at least 2023.
The company merged Messenger and Instagram chats last year in order to create a unified messaging system across all of its platforms. It will likely not be turned on by default, and will likely take until at least 2023 to turn it on. E2EE is supported by default.
Meta wants to assist public safety efforts.
In a post in The Telegraph, Antigone Davis, Meta's head of safety, attributes the delay to concerns about user safety. Meta wants to make sure that the platform doesn't interfere with its ability to help stop criminal activity since E2EE means only the sender and recipient will see their conversations. Once E2EE becomes available, the company will use a combination of non-encrypted data across their apps, account information and reports from users to help keep them safe, all while assisting public safety efforts.
In a post earlier this year, Meta said that the default E2EE would be available on Messenger andInstagram in 2022. Meta wants to get this right, so the company plans on delaying the feature's debut until 2023.
The Online Safety bill will require online platforms to keep children from harm, as well as promptly address abusive content. The UK Home Secretary has criticized the use of E2EE in the past, so it may impede Facebook's plans to enable it by default. According to a report from the British Broadcasting Corporation, the author of the report claims that E2EE could make it more difficult to prevent child abuse online. The good work and progress that has already been made is still being pursued by Facebook.
Last year, the US joined the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, and Japan in a call to give local law enforcement back door access to their data.
