A global cast of plaintiffs
Those bringing the case span five continents, including representatives from Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa. Together, they argue that Meta not only stores user message content but also may access it, placing billions of users at risk of unseen surveillance.
Meta pushes back, calls suit a fabrication
Meta swiftly rejected the allegations, describing the case as legally groundless and vowing to seek sanctions against the plaintiffs’ attorneys.
“Any claim that WhatsApp messages are not encrypted is categorically false and absurd,” said Andy Stone, a Meta spokesperson. “WhatsApp has been using end-to-end encryption based on the Signal protocol for ten years. This lawsuit is a baseless fabrication.”
The company has long touted encryption as the digital equivalent of a sealed envelope, unreadable to anyone outside the conversation.
Regulators circle as scrutiny grows
Beyond the courtroom, pressure on Meta continues to mount. Britain’s media regulator, Ofcom, has opened an investigation into information Meta provided about WhatsApp during one of its market studies, according to other sources.
The regulatory probe underscores a broader global push to force major technology companies to lift the curtain on how user data is handled and how secure private communications truly are. As lawmakers and watchdogs probe deeper, the Meta WhatsApp privacy lawsuit adds fuel to an already smoldering debate over trust, transparency and the real meaning of “private” in the digital age.
