Instagram has announced that it will stop supporting end-to-end encrypted direct messages starting May 8. Meta confirmed the decision, saying the feature was removed because only a very small number of users were actually using it.
The company has already started notifying affected users inside the Instagram app. It is also advising people to download any end-to-end encrypted chats, photos, or media before the feature disappears, otherwise those messages may no longer be accessible.
End-to-end encryption, often called E2EE, is a privacy feature that prevents anyone except the sender and receiver from reading a message. Even the platform hosting the messages cannot view them. Instagram introduced this feature in 2023 after similar encryption systems were already used on WhatsApp and Messenger.
Despite the privacy benefits, Meta says the feature did not gain much adoption on Instagram. The company now suggests that anyone who wants encrypted messaging should use WhatsApp instead, where end-to-end encryption remains a core feature.
If this article helped you, please consider supporting our work. Every small contribution keeps Abijita.com independent and running.
