Can We Really Trust Meta Apps Like WhatsApp And Instagram

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India, our mornings often begin with WhatsApp forwards and sharing reels. Both WhatsApp and Instagram have become an important part of our lives. In fact, India has nearly 853.8 million WhatsApp users, as per DemandSage. However, the bigger question that arises should be 'Are our chats private and safe on WhatsApp and Instagram?'

Meta Accused Of Misleading Billions On WhatsApp Privacy

In a recent legal dispute, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a case against Meta’s WhatsApp, accusing the instant messaging platform of giving users a fake impression about the app’s encryption and privacy policies. "WhatsApp markets its services as secure and encrypted, ⁠but it does not deliver on those promises," Paxton was quoted as saying. As per the lawsuit, WhatsApp claimed that user messages have been fully protected with end-to-end encryption, while Meta reportedly had access to large chunks of users’ private chats. This case highlights how the company promised privacy to billions of users worldwide but failed to deliver what it promised. The case also mentions reports and whistleblower claims that suggest Meta accessed unencrypted chats of users.

Previous Lawsuits Against Meta

Earlier this year, a multinational group of plaintiffs from countries like Brazil, Australia, India, South Africa, and Mexico sued the company in a US federal court, as per Business Standard. They accused WhatsApp of falsely marketing chats as private while allegedly storing and analysing user chats internally. Meta had called this lawsuit "frivolous".

Meta Among Big Tech Facing Lawsuits Over Mental Harm To Kids

Meta is also among the social media platforms, apart from Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok, that have been accused of harming the mental health of teenagers, as per Reuters. Nearly 6,000 lawsuits are pending against these social media companies, and the issue is back in focus after Meta settled a lawsuit filed by Kentucky’s Breathitt County School District, the first school district case that was scheduled to go to trial. This case was set for a June 15 trial in California before reaching a settlement.

Are Instagram Chats Private?

In 2026, Meta confirmed Instagram would discontinue end-to-end encrypted DMs. Instagram wrote on its official support page that after May 8, 2026, Instagram DMs no longer support E2EE. It added that Meta can technically access message content, chats are no longer protected by Signal-based encryption and the encrypted chat history had to be downloaded beforehand.The platform said, “End-to-end encrypted messaging on Instagram is no longer supported as of 8 May 2026. If you have chats that are affected by this change, you will see instructions on how you can download any media or messages that you may want to keep. If you're on an older version of Instagram, you may also need to update the app before you can download your affected chats.”For millions of Indians, Instagram and WhatsApp are not just social media platforms. They are more like a digital base where families talk, businesses run, payments take place, memories are shared and even private emotions are communicated. That is why the growing questions around encryption and data privacy matter.

India has one of the largest user bases for Meta platforms in the world, yet many users still assume every message they send is fully protected. The reality appears far more complicated. As lawsuits pile up and policy shifts continue, the trust gap between what users believe and what platforms actually guarantee is becoming harder to ignore. What lies ahead may not just be a debate about technology but about whether billions of people can safely depend on private platforms that increasingly function like public infrastructure.