New Delhi : A new lawsuit filed in America has once again brought Meta and WhatsApp under the scanner of user privacy. This case directly challenges the biggest claim of WhatsApp, under which the company has been saying for years that the messages sent on its platform are completely end-to-end encryption and even WhatsApp or Meta itself cannot read them. But the allegations made in this case are completely contrary to this claim and that is why this controversy has rapidly become a topic of global discussion.

Company cheating users
Let us tell you that this case has been filed in a District Court located in San Francisco, America. The plaintiffs allege that Meta and WhatsApp led their billions of users to believe that their private conversations were completely secure, while in reality the company allegedly stores, analyzes and has some access to the data to the messages. The complaint also states that the message displayed within the WhatsApp app, which claims that only people in the chat can read or share the conversation, is misleading. The plaintiffs have even alleged that this behavior amounts to fraud with users.

It does not include citizens of only one country
What makes this case more serious is that it does not involve citizens of just one country. According to reports, this case has been jointly filed by users from countries like Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa. This international participation indicates that the questions raised regarding privacy are not limited to any one region, but there are concerns about the functioning of WhatsApp on a global level. The complaint also claims that Meta employees could access the content of WhatsApp conversations, which, if proven true, could have a major impact on the credibility and regulation of encrypted messaging services.

Many questions still remain to be answered
The lawsuit also mentions “whistleblowers” ​​who are said to have brought these alleged practices to light. However, till now neither the identity of these whistleblowers has been made public nor has it been made clear what kind of information they provided. Due to this ambiguity, the strength of evidence may become an important issue in further legal proceedings. For now, the mention of whistleblowers certainly makes the case mysterious and popular, but many questions still remain unanswered.

meta called the lawsuit baseless
Meta has completely rejected all these allegations and called the lawsuit completely baseless. The company says that it considers this case to be “frivolous” i.e. baseless and may also demand legal action and sanctions against the lawyers who filed the case. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone has clearly stated that the claim that WhatsApp messages are not encrypted is completely false and ridiculous. According to him, WhatsApp has been using end-to-end encryption based on Signal protocol for the last decade and the company itself cannot read the messages of the users. Meta has reiterated this stance several times in the past in privacy disputes.

Elon Musk gave this answer
Amidst this entire controversy, the reaction of Tesla and X owner Elon Musk gave a different turn to the matter. Posting on social media platform X, Musk raised questions on the security of WhatsApp and even said that services like Signal are also under suspicion. He appealed to people to use his platform’s messaging service X Chat. Musk’s comment was seen by many as a commercial competition rather than a technical debate, but it further intensified the ongoing discussion regarding the security of encrypted messaging apps.

The lawsuit is not limited to just Meta or WhatsApp.
Overall, this lawsuit is not limited to just Meta or WhatsApp, but brings to the fore big questions like user privacy, trust and transparency of tech companies in the digital era. Now everyone’s eyes are on how well these allegations hold up in the court and whether this case becomes the cause of any major change in the world of messaging apps or not.