Australia appears to have been one of the first countries to experience the removal of end-to-end encryption from Instagram direct messages. Reports confirmed the feature was already deactivated for Australian users before the official May 8, 2026 global deadline. Meta has confirmed the global rollback through a help page update.
Encryption on Instagram was part of Mark Zuckerberg’s 2019 ambition to bring privacy-first messaging to all Meta platforms. The feature finally launched on Instagram in 2023 as an opt-in option. Few users activated it, giving Meta the rationale to remove it.
With encryption gone, Meta will have full access to all Instagram DMs globally. For Australian users, this reality arrived even before the official deadline. The change gives Meta unprecedented visibility into private communications on the platform.
Australian authorities had long been critical of the feature. The Australian federal police and eSafety commissioner’s office had both argued that encryption without appropriate safety measures creates risks. The eSafety commissioner noted that platforms are responsible for preventing harm regardless of their encryption choices.
Digital rights organizations worldwide have expressed concern about the precedent set by the early deactivation in Australia. They argue it shows how quickly encryption protections can be removed once a decision is made. Privacy advocates are urging users globally to treat Instagram messages as readable by the platform at all times.