Instagram users will soon lose a key privacy protection in their direct messages.

Parent company Meta has announced it will discontinue end-to-end encryption for Instagram direct messages, with the feature to be removed from the platform on May 8.

End-to-end encryption ensures that only the sender and recipient can read messages, preventing access from third parties — including governments, law enforcement, hackers and even the platform itself.

Once the change takes effect, encrypted message threads will no longer be supported.

Digital rights advocates have raised concerns about the move. Tom Sulston, from Digital Rights Watch, said users should be cautious about how their data is handled.

“They’re not our friends – they’re there to exploit us for our data and monetise us,” he said of social media platforms.

Experts say the change could allow Instagram to expand its data collection for targeted advertising and potentially for training artificial intelligence systems.

Meta is advising users to download any messages, photos or videos they want to keep from affected chats before the deadline. After May 8, users may lose access to content stored within those encrypted conversations.

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