TLDRUS authorities have reportedly investigated claims that Meta can read users' encrypted WhatsApp messages, following a lawsuit alleging the tech firm can access 'virtually all' private communications. Meta has denied the allegations, calling the claims 'categorically false and absurd'. The lawsuit, filed by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, cites unnamed whistleblowers from several countries. Meta has suggested the lawsuit is a tactic to support the NSO Group, an Israeli firm that develops spyware, which recently lost a lawsuit brought by WhatsApp. The US Department of Commerce has called reports of an investigation 'unsubstantiated'.

Source: The Guardian February 01, 2026 11:24 UTC