{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreif6dtvun7x4b2gi4t5ljzuq5fe647kvazx5scqiiplqvfls4pbtgm",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:oznbnvgr7dmvddiyvr7dih52/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmehkaacx5v2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreic76nmsr6f2r74j2cw4qz4vb7xvuqd7wtzm3cry2a7veahrl2irwq"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "size": 1466648
  },
  "path": "/tech/meta-remove-encryption-instagram-dm-expressvpn",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-21T11:48:52.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "ditched end-to-end encryption from Instagram earlier this month",
    "Award-winning security firm praises GB News for championing 'freedom of expression' and privacy",
    "best VPN deals",
    "Your Ring, Eufy, or Blink video doorbell could be breaking one major UK privacy law",
    "Best VPN deals",
    "Blocking VPNs with age-checks will ‘undermine privacy and security'",
    "If you're going to trust ONE app... avoid this one!",
    "Google Gemini can scan every one of your photos in latest update",
    "ExpressVPN review",
    "the online Help Pages",
    "the introduction of the Online Safety Act",
    "shake-ups to the encryption used to secure messages in Instagram",
    "best VPNs",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nMeta **ditched end-to-end encryption from Instagram earlier this month** , leaving messages sent via the photo-sharing social network exposed. With end-to-end encryption gone, Meta has the power to search, scan, or read _any_ text messages, pictures, videos, or voice notes sent via its messaging service.\n\nThis could be used to better target its ads or report users for content sent within the app.\n\n  * **Award-winning security firm praises GB News for championing 'freedom of expression' and privacy**\n\n\n\nFor those who don't know, end-to-end encryption is a technique that sees _all_ communication encrypted on-device _before_ it's sent. Only the intended recipient has the key to decrypt incoming messages, ensuring that nobody — not governments, advertisers, or cybercriminals — can intercept and decipher your messages in transit.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThat includes Meta itself, which is unable to scan the contents of messages sent with end-to-end encryption. However, the next time you send a message via Instagram, you'll only be shielded by standard encryption.\n\nWith the shake-up at Instagram, one of the largest social media networks globally, the only remaining platform owned by Meta that retains end-to-end encryption is WhatsApp.\n\nFollowing the decision to scrap end-to-end encryption, ExpressVPN, which offers one of the **best VPN deals** around, has reported a spike in downloads from those looking to bolster their online security. ExpressVPN reported **a 12.4% increase in daily new subscribers** in the 48-hours after the announcement from Meta, the brand told GB News.\n\nThe decision to remove privacy protections from Instagram users has renewed the debate around how personal data and private communications are protected across social platforms.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nExpressVPN Chief Research Officer Pete Membrey told GB News: “End-to-end encryption is one of the most important privacy protections available to users online because it ensures conversations can only be read by the sender and recipient.\n\n\"When platforms scale back these protections, it naturally raises questions around who can access user communications, how data is stored, and what this means for personal privacy moving forward.\n\n\"It’s also worth remembering that one of the original reasons many messaging platforms, including WhatsApp, moved to end-to-end encryption was precisely to ensure that even the platform itself could not access the content of private communications. That design choice fundamentally limits how that data can be used or analysed at a content level. When those protections are reduced or removed, it changes what is technically possible in terms of how message content can be accessed, processed or used within the platform.\"\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * **Your Ring, Eufy, or Blink video doorbell could be breaking one major UK privacy law**\n  * **Best VPN deals**\n  * **Blocking VPNs with age-checks will ‘undermine privacy and security'******\n  * **If you're going to trust ONE app... avoid this one! ******\n  * **Google Gemini can scan every one of your photos in latest update******\n  * **ExpressVPN review**\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nMeta has not commented on whether the changes to encryption will alter its data collection practices. In fact, eagle-eyed Instagram users only noticed the change was happening when the Californian company quietly refreshed **the online Help Pages** resources for the social network.\n\nMeta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly stated that billions of users worldwide are shifting to private messages, group chats, and ephemeral posts like stories, rather than broadcasting publicly on social platforms.\n\nThis is something that Pete Membrey highlighted: \"Platforms like Instagram are not just social networks — they are communication tools that millions of people use every day to share personal messages, coordinate with friends and family, and manage aspects of their daily lives. As a result, changes to how private messaging is protected inevitably shape how safe and secure those everyday interactions feel.\n\n\"There is a growing focus across the online safety landscape — particularly in relation to protecting children and addressing harmful content — which is driving important and necessary policy discussions. At the same time, it’s essential to consider how changes to privacy frameworks interact with user trust and the expectation of private, secure communication.\n\n\"We’re seeing consumers become far more proactive about protecting their digital footprint, and spikes in demand like this reflect a broader shift in public awareness around online security and privacy.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nExpressVPN is an award-winning VPN, which encrypts and anonymises _everything_ you do online — hiding your location and website history, stopping advertisers, trackers, and even governments from keeping tabs on you. VPNs have long been used by businesses to keep proprietary data safe.\n\nWhistle-blowers and journalists also rely on these apps to shield sensitive information.\n\nWith **the introduction of the Online Safety Act** and **shake-ups to the encryption used to secure messages in Instagram** , VPNs are fast becoming an essential tool for everyone with a smartphone, laptop, desktop PC, streaming set-top box, or tablet.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe **best VPNs** rely on the same military-grade encryption as governments in Britain and the United States. Encryption scrambles data into an unreadable format, preventing third parties from monitoring your activity.\n\nThis is _so_ effective that it'll even stop the Internet Service Provider (ISP) that connects you to the internet from keeping a record of the websites you've visited, how long you've spent on each site, and your current location.\n\nAdvertisers, trackers, and hackers are also blind when it comes to tracking your web history.\n\nHeading online _without_ a VPN enabled is a little like sending a postcard, with your personal message easily visible on the back as it makes its way to the intended recipient through the Royal Mail system.\n\nHowever, when running a VPN on your device, that same postcard is placed inside _multiple_ envelopes and packages, so the message on the back is hidden from everyone as it makes its way to its final destination.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "VPN downloads surge as Meta scraps critical protection for your messages"
}