Meta: A group of international WhatsApp users has filed a lawsuit in a US court, accusing Meta of misleading users about the privacy of its end-to-end encryption. The plaintiffs claim Meta can access private messages despite assurances that chats remain fully secure.
Filed in a San Francisco court on January 23, the lawsuit describes WhatsApp’s encryption as a “sham” and seeks damages from the company. Meta has strongly denied the allegations, calling them “false and absurd.”
What the Lawsuit Alleges
According to the 51-page complaint, employees of Meta and WhatsApp can allegedly bypass the platform’s end-to-end encryption to read users’ messages. The plaintiffs, from Australia, South Africa and Mexico, argue that internal systems allow staff to access chats by submitting a “task” request to Meta engineers.
The suit claims that once approved, employees can view messages linked to a user’s unique ID through an internal widget, often with little oversight. It further alleges that messages appear nearly in real time and may include chats users believe they have already deleted.
BREAKING: Meta Whistleblowers say WhatsApp private chats can be read by the company, despite promises of end to end encryption.
A lawsuit filed in US court claims Meta misled billions of users worldwide into believing their messages were fully private.
Meta can not be trusted. pic.twitter.com/jcXH9qnrZs
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) January 26, 2026
However, the complaint does not provide technical evidence to substantiate these claims.
Meta Rejects Claims, Cites Encryption Design
WhatsApp maintains that its end-to-end encryption ensures only the sender and recipient can read messages, as encryption keys are stored solely on users’ devices. Meta says it cannot decrypt or access private conversations, reiterating that the lawsuit misrepresents how the system works.
Elon Musk Weighs In
The case has drawn attention on social media, with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk commenting that “WhatsApp is not secure” and claiming that “even Signal is questionable.” He urged users to switch to X Chat, a messaging service launched by ‘xAI’ on X in November last year.
X Chat has been promoted as a privacy-focused alternative, offering features such as end-to-end encryption, advanced message controls and a unified inbox that merges older direct messages with the new chat system.
