On Thursday, Elon Musk once again targeted Meta Platforms, Inc.’s WhatsApp after reacting to allegations that the platform accessed private messages without user consent.
Musk Questions WhatsApp
“Can’t trust WhatsApp,” Musk wrote on X, sharing a report about a new class action against the instant messaging platform.
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WhatsApp’s official X handle responded to Musk’s post, saying, “The claims in this lawsuit are categorically false and absurd.”
The platform added that it has relied on end-to-end encryption powered by the Signal protocol for years, ensuring that only the sender and recipient can access messages.
The claims in this lawsuit are categorically false and absurd. WhatsApp has been end-to-end encrypted using the Signal protocol for a decade so your messages cannot be read by anyone other than the sender and recipient.
— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) April 9, 2026
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Telegram’s Pavel Durov Escalates Criticism
Telegram founder Pavel Durov joined in alleging that the platform misleads users about its security, calling its encryption “the biggest consumer fraud in history.”
He further said, “Despite its claims, it reads users’ messages and shares them with third parties,” adding that Telegram has “never done this — and never will.”
WhatsApp’s “encryption” may be the biggest consumer fraud in history — deceiving billions of users. Despite its claims, it reads users’ messages and shares them with third parties. Telegram has never done this — and never will 🤝 pic.twitter.com/2DYguybgoU
— Pavel Durov (@durov) April 9, 2026
Meta did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comments.
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Privacy Debate Extends Beyond Messages
The lawsuit in question alleges that while Meta has widely promoted WhatsApp as a secure, end-to-end encrypted platform, only users can access their conversations.
However, the company’s employees, along with Ireland-based firm Accenture and potentially other third parties, may be able to access messages without users’ knowledge through a purported “backdoor” in the app’s code.
The complaint claims this mechanism enables internal staff or contractors to bypass encryption protections and view private user communications.
In January 2026, another lawsuit claimed that Meta misleadingly promotes WhatsApp as a fully end-to-end encrypted service. At the time, Meta denied the allegations, describing the lawsuit as “frivolous.”
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Photo: Shutterstock/Joshua Sukoff
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