Meta Platforms will discontinue support for end-to-end encrypted direct messages on Instagram starting May 8, 2026.
The company said users who currently have encrypted chats will receive instructions on how to download their messages and media before the feature is removed.
In a statement to The Verge, a Meta spokesperson said the decision was made because very few users were using the encryption feature. Users who want encrypted messaging can instead use WhatsApp, which has supported end-to-end encryption since 2016.
End-to-end encryption ensures that only the sender and recipient can read messages, protecting conversations from interception.
Unlike WhatsApp, Instagram’s encrypted messaging was never rolled out globally and remained available only in certain regions as an opt-in feature.
Meta’s approach to encryption has shifted several times over the past decade. In 2019, the company said it planned to expand encryption across its messaging services, but implementation was repeatedly delayed.
