US authorities have reportedly examined claims that Meta can access users’ encrypted messages on WhatsApp, allegations the company has strongly denied.
The reports follow a lawsuit filed last week alleging Meta “can access virtually all” WhatsApp users’ private communications, despite the platform advertising end-to-end encryption.
Meta rejected the claim as “categorically false and absurd”, saying the lawsuit was designed to support NSO Group, which recently lost a US court case brought by WhatsApp over the use of Pegasus spyware.
The lawsuit was filed by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, which said unnamed whistleblowers from several countries had provided information underpinning the allegations. The firm is also assisting NSO Group in an appeal against a separate US federal court ruling.
Meta spokesperson Carl Woog said the company was seeking sanctions against Quinn Emanuel, arguing the case was meritless and intended to generate publicity.
Security experts have expressed scepticism. Steven Murdoch said the claims were unusual and would be difficult to conceal if true, given WhatsApp’s scale and technical architecture.
A spokesperson for the US Department of Commerce said claims that the department had substantiated the allegations were unproven.
WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, meaning messages are readable only by the sender and recipient, not by the platform itself.
