- Court filing reveals Meta internal encryption concerns
- Executive called Messenger encryption plan "irresponsible" in 2019
- Documents cite projected drop in exploitation reports
- Meta launched encrypted messaging with added safety features in 2023
Messages exchanged inside Meta Platforms Inc show top leaders worried back in 2019 about locking down Facebook Messenger with encryption. Such changes might block tools meant to catch child abuse online. Instead of alerting authorities, systems could miss signs entirely. Court documents from a New Mexico lawsuit brought these concerns to light.
While aiming for stronger privacy, detection efforts may have been weakened on purpose. Officials questioned how much safety was sacrificed. Encryption, though protective for users, opens risk elsewhere. These internal talks highlight tension between user secrecy and public protection. Not every benefit comes without trade-offs. Safety mechanisms face limits when data is sealed by design.
Friday saw the release of papers tied to a lawsuit led by New Mexico's attorney general, Raul Torrez. These records, uncovered in pre-trial exchanges, involving emails, message logs, and private memos. Inside them lies fresh detail about disagreements within the firm before CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared plans for automatic end-to-end encryption across Facebook-linked chat platforms.
A company move felt wrong, almost reckless. That thought came through in a message from Monika Bickert, Meta's lead on content rules, in an internal conversation that March day in 2019. The launch of encrypted messaging neared.
Her words surfaced just before it went live. A child safety lawsuit claims Meta enabled predators to find minors online, linking some directly to physical harm including exploitation and trafficking. This month marks the start of a courtroom hearing, the first time such charges have advanced far enough to face a jury.
Friday saw Meta Platforms Inc shares finish down 0.8%, settling at $512.40, per Reuters figures, this after a smaller drop of 0.3% just one day earlier. Though facing growing oversight from regulators, the stock has climbed roughly 12% so far this year, tracking upward movement seen across tech investments.
Internal Safety Issues Outlined
Although encrypted messaging limits outside access, top officials worried it might hide dangerous behavior. Messages locked this way let just two people see what is sent, blocking anyone else - even the platform itself, from viewing texts. Because of such concerns, leaders hesitated before making privacy a standard feature.
A single email, sent in early 2019, contained a confidential assessment. That analysis suggested detection numbers might shrink dramatically under encryption. Instead of 18.4 million reports filed the previous year, only about 6.4 million could be expected. The projected decline, roughly two-thirds, focused on images shared via Messenger.
When protected by end-to-end scrambling, such material may escape automated review. Reports to NCMEC, tasked with tracking child exploitation, depend heavily on system scans. Without access to message contents, alerts would drop sharply. Encryption alters what tools can detect. One outcome: fewer signals reach oversight bodies. Hidden content means hidden abuse, possibly. A steep fall in flagged cases followed the assumption of full messaging privacy.
A later update to the same document projected that the company would have been "unable to provide data proactively to law enforcement in 600 child exploitation cases, 1,454 sextortion cases, 152 terrorist cases [and] 9 threatened school shootings."
"I'm not very invested in helping him sell this, I must say," Bickert wrote of Zuckerberg's efforts to promote encryption on privacy grounds. With end-to-end encryption, "there is no way to find the terror attack planning or child exploitation" and proactively refer those cases to law enforcement, she added.
Included in the documents is a 2019 message from Antigone Davis, Meta's lead for global safety, highlighting how Facebook's design might increase danger. She noted that the platform enables predators to locate one another, and children, through its network connections, moving without difficulty into private chats on Messenger.
By contrast, she noted that WhatsApp, Meta's encrypted messaging platform, was not directly connected to a public-facing social network. "WA (WhatsApp) does not make it easy to make social connections, meaning making Messenger e2ee will be far, far worse than anything we have seen/gotten a glimpse of on WA," she said.
Meta Adds New Safety Measures
Back in 2019, worries surfaced that later shaped how Meta built stronger safeguards. Though delayed, those early warnings helped steer updates. By the time encryption went live on Facebook Messenger and Instagram DMs in 2023, new protections were already part of the system. Input from critics hadn't been ignored - instead, it quietly guided changes behind the scenes.
"The concerns raised in 2019 represent the very reason we developed a range of new safety features to help detect and prevent abuse, all designed to work in encrypted chats," Stone said in response to Reuters queries.
Messages now come with encryption built in. Still, if something seems off, users have a way to flag it directly to Meta. Once flagged, those messages might get examined internally before possible handover to authorities. For younger people, separate profiles were set up automatically based on age. Adults cannot start conversations with unknown teens under these new rules.
A recent legal submission emerges as Meta confronts mounting scrutiny across multiple countries. Beyond the case from New Mexico, over four dozen state-level prosecutors have joined forces, accusing the firm's platforms of negatively affecting young users' psychological well-being. Meanwhile, individual schools and citizens have launched their own legal actions independently. Regulatory pressure builds not just from states but also local institutions reacting to perceived risks.
Last quarter, legal spending at the firm climbed 9% compared to the previous year, according to Reuters, driven by more lawsuits and tighter regulations. Revenue hit $41.2 billion recently, a rise of 15% versus last year's figure, showing ad demand remains strong even amid growing legal challenges.
Meta Downplayed Risks Stressing User Privacy: Core Complaint
What happened in New Mexico centers on claims that Meta downplayed risks tied to its encrypted messaging. Though outwardly stressing user privacy, internal discussions showed awareness of how hard it became to track harmful behavior toward minors.
While promoting one narrative publicly, another emerged behind closed doors, less about protection, more about trade-offs. This gap between statements forms the core of the complaint. Officials saw a pattern: strong promises paired with quiet admissions elsewhere.
Now back in public view, the discussion has resurfaced about how much privacy users should have versus how responsible platforms must be. Because young people might encounter unknown adults online, groups focused on protecting children, NCMEC among them, say strong encryption could create danger when protective measures fall short.
Meanwhile, supporters of digital privacy argue encryption functions as a common safeguard across numerous chat platforms, such as Apple's iMessage and Google's Messages, noting compromised encryption might leave individuals vulnerable to spying or leaks. Still, they stress such protections are routine, not exceptional.
The New Mexico trial will likely look into how closely Meta matched its private evaluations with what it told the public. Before rolling out encrypted messaging, did the firm act enough on known dangers?
After launch, further scrutiny may follow about delayed fixes. Consistency between behind-the-scenes findings and outward claims stands at the center. Evidence could reveal gaps in timing or seriousness when handling user safety concerns.
The ruling could shape how social media companies balance privacy tools with legal and safety demands going forward. At present, documents submitted to the court reveal careful discussions within the firm at a turning point in its approach to new products.
Recommended FAQs
Why did a Meta executive call Messenger encryption "so irresponsible"?
An internal chat from 2019 shows Monika Bickert warning that encrypting Messenger could hinder the company's ability to detect and report child exploitation. She wrote the comment as CEO Mark Zuckerberg prepared to publicly announce the plan.
How would encryption have affected Meta's child exploitation reporting?
A company briefing estimated reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children could have fallen from 18.4 million to 6.4 million if Messenger had been encrypted. It also said Meta would have been unable to proactively share data in hundreds of exploitation and terrorism cases.
What is the New Mexico lawsuit against Meta about?
The case, brought by Attorney General Raul Torrez, alleges Meta enabled predators to access underage users and failed to address child exploitation risks. It is the first such case against the company to reach a jury.
When did Meta implement default end-to-end encryption on Messenger?
Meta first announced the encryption plan in 2019 and launched default end-to-end encryption on Facebook Messenger and Instagram direct messages in 2023. The company says it added safety features before the rollout.
How did Meta respond to concerns about encrypted messaging?
Meta said it developed additional tools designed to work within encrypted chats, including reporting options and protections for underage accounts. The company maintains these features help detect and prevent abuse despite encryption.
