US authorities are reportedly looking into claims that Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, can read users’ private messages. The investigation follows a recent lawsuit that has raised serious questions about the privacy of encrypted chats on the popular messaging app.
The lawsuit, filed last week, claims that Meta is able to access nearly all WhatsApp users’ “private” communications. These allegations have caused concern among users who rely on the platform for secure and private messaging.
Meta has strongly denied the claims. According to reports, the company called the accusations “categorically false and absurd.” Meta said it does not have the ability to read WhatsApp messages and insisted that user privacy remains protected.
The company also suggested that the lawsuit is an attempt to support the NSO Group, an Israeli firm known for developing spyware. NSO Group has been accused of spying on activists and journalists around the world. Recently, the firm lost a legal case brought against it by WhatsApp, which accused NSO of misusing the platform to spread spyware.
WhatsApp has long promoted itself as a secure messaging service. It uses end-to-end encryption, meaning only the sender and the receiver can read the messages. According to WhatsApp, messages are not stored or decoded on its servers, and even the company itself cannot access the content of chats.
This level of encryption is designed to protect users from hackers, third parties, and unauthorized surveillance. It is one of the main reasons WhatsApp is trusted by millions of people globally.
In comparison, some other messaging apps use a different method. For example, Telegram encrypts messages between users and its own servers. While this stops outsiders from reading messages, it still allows the platform itself, in theory, to access the data.
The investigation by US authorities is still ongoing. For now, Meta continues to deny any wrongdoing, while users await further clarity on the matter.