Meta is facing a major new legal challenge after an international group of WhatsApp users filed a lawsuit in the United States, accusing the social-media giant of misleading users about the privacy and security of their messages. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, claims that Meta and WhatsApp falsely advertise their end-to-end encryption a feature that is supposed to ensure only the sender and recipient can read messages while secretly storing, analysing and even accessing the content of supposedly private chats. Plaintiffs from countries including Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa allege that Meta’s practices mean user messages can be accessed by company employees, contradicting the firm’s long-standing privacy assurances.
Central to the complaint is the claim that Meta’s encrypted messaging system is not as secure as advertised. According to the plaintiffs, internal tools and infrastructure allow employees to view users’ communications, and the company retains data that should be inaccessible even to its own servers a charge the lawsuit says amounts to deceptive marketing and privacy violations affecting billions of users worldwide. The filing also references unnamed whistleblowers who allegedly helped reveal these practices, though their identities and specific evidence have not been publicly detailed.
Meta has strongly denied the allegations, dismissing the lawsuit as “frivolous” and asserting that WhatsApp has used end-to-end encryption for years. A company spokesperson stated that any suggestion WhatsApp can read private messages is “false and absurd” and emphasised that the encryption protocol in use is designed so only users themselves can access the contents of their chats. Meta has also indicated it intends to contest the lawsuit vigorously, including seeking sanctions against the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
The case adds to a broader backdrop of scrutiny over Meta’s data practices, following previous legal battles and whistleblower complaints about internal access to user data and cybersecurity concerns. Earlier lawsuits by a former WhatsApp security executive alleged that hundreds of engineers had unchecked access to user information and that internal warnings were ignored, though those claims focus more on systemic cybersecurity flaws than the recent privacy-promise litigation.
As the lawsuit moves forward, its potential class-action status could mean far-reaching implications for Meta and WhatsApp users worldwide. If certified, millions of users could be included in the case, and the outcome may influence how messaging platforms handle encryption claims, transparency, and user trust in an era of growing concern over digital privacy and corporate data control