Meta will discontinue end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for Instagram direct messages starting May 8, 2026, citing low user adoption.

Instagram has begun notifying affected users within the app and updated its support page with instructions for downloading encrypted messages and media before the cutoff date. Users running older versions of the platform may need to update the app before they can access and save their affected chats.

In a statement to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Dina El-Kassaby Luce said the platform is discontinuing the feature because “very few people” were using E2EE in their DMs. “Anyone who wants to keep messaging with end-to-end encryption can easily do that on WhatsApp,” El-Kassaby Luce added.

Background

Meta began rolling out E2EE to Instagram in 2023, following earlier deployments on WhatsApp and Messenger. The feature prevents third parties, including Meta itself, from viewing message content. Under the system, each device in an encrypted conversation holds a unique key that locks and unlocks messages in transit.

The decision to end E2EE reverses a broader messaging integration strategy that Meta had pursued since 2019, which aimed to unify the back ends of WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram into a single system. According to Social Media Today, some analysts and industry observers have linked the effort to a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) antitrust case examining Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. Meta won that case in November 2025, and the FTC is appealing the decision.

The removal comes amid sustained regulatory scrutiny of E2EE across multiple jurisdictions. In 2024, Nevada’s Attorney General filed a motion to ban Meta from offering E2EE to minors. New Mexico’s AG has accused Meta of knowing the feature “would make its platforms less safe by preventing it from detecting and reporting child sexual exploitation,” according to The Verge.