A Lawsuit Sparks Debate in the US: Can Meta Read Encrypted WhatsApp Messages?

A lawsuit filed in the United States against Meta has reignited global discussions around digital privacy and user security. The case alleges that Meta can access “nearly all” encrypted messages sent through WhatsApp, a claim that has drawn widespread attention from both the tech industry and the public.

The allegations were first reported by Bloomberg, citing interviews with U.S. Department of Commerce officials and internal reports suggesting that authorities were investigating whether Meta could read WhatsApp messages. A spokesperson for the department, however, dismissed these claims as “unsubstantiated” and lacking concrete evidence.

Meta strongly rejected the accusations, describing them as “categorically false and absurd.” The company argued that the lawsuit serves as a tactic to support the Israeli spyware firm NSO Group, known for developing surveillance tools used against journalists and activists, and which recently lost a major legal case brought by WhatsApp.

The law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, which filed the lawsuit against Meta, claims its case is based on information provided by anonymous whistleblowers from countries including Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico, and South Africa. However, the firm’s involvement in representing NSO Group in a separate appeal has raised questions about potential conflicts of interest.

Meta spokesperson Carl Woog stated that the company is seeking sanctions against Quinn Emanuel, calling the lawsuit baseless and motivated by media attention. Quinn Emanuel partner Adam Wolfson countered that the firm’s role in defending NSO Group is entirely unrelated to the case filed on behalf of WhatsApp users worldwide.

Security engineering professor Steven Murdoch described the allegations as “strange,” noting that they rely heavily on anonymous sources whose credibility is unclear. According to Murdoch, if WhatsApp were indeed capable of reading user messages, such a vulnerability would likely have been discovered long ago and would be catastrophic for the platform.

WhatsApp emphasizes that it uses end-to-end encryption, meaning messages can only be read by the sender and the recipient, not by intermediaries or company servers. This model differs from platforms like Telegram, where messages are encrypted between users and company servers, theoretically allowing the provider access to message content.