WhatsApp lawsuit overview:
- Who: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc. and WhatsApp LLC.
- Why: Texas claims Meta and WhatsApp falsely represented that users’ messages were private and inaccessible to the companies.
- Where: The Whatsapp lawsuit was filed in Texas state court.
Texas sued Meta and WhatsApp, alleging the companies deceptively marketed WhatsApp as a fully private messaging platform while allegedly maintaining access to users’ communications.
According to the lawsuit, WhatsApp repeatedly assured consumers that messages sent through the platform were protected by end-to-end encryption and that “not even WhatsApp can see them.” The state claims those representations were false and misleading.
“WhatsApp and its parent company, Meta, have access to virtually all of WhatsApp users’ purportedly ‘private’ communications,” Texas alleged in the complaint, as reported by Law360. “On information and belief, to this day, Meta and WhatsApp store, maintain access to and use WhatsApp’s 3 billion users’ ‘encrypted’ messages.”
The lawsuit was filed under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which prohibits false, misleading or deceptive acts in commerce.
Texas alleges WhatsApp’s founders originally promised user messages would be encrypted and inaccessible to anyone outside a conversation.
The Whatsapp lawsuit also points to statements allegedly made after Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014, including assurances from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that the service would remain substantially the same.
According to the petition, WhatsApp later updated its user agreement to permit the sharing of user data — including phone numbers, profile photos, IP addresses and status information — with Facebook for purposes such as advertising and abuse prevention.
Despite those changes, Texas claims WhatsApp continued publicly representing that only message senders and recipients could read communications sent through the platform.
Texas alleges Meta employees could access WhatsApp message content
The lawsuit alleges Meta failed to disclose the full extent of its alleged access to users’ encrypted communications.
Texas acknowledges WhatsApp disclosed limited exceptions to its encryption claims, such as situations involving user complaints or business messaging services. However, the state argues those disclosures did not adequately inform users that Meta and WhatsApp allegedly maintained broader access to communications.
The Whatsapp lawsuit also cites media reports concerning an Office of Export Enforcement investigation that allegedly validated claims Meta employees and contractors could access WhatsApp message content.
According to the complaint, Meta allegedly maintained a “tiered permissions system” that granted different employees and contractors varying levels of access to WhatsApp communications, including certain workers located in India who performed content moderation tasks.
“Defendants’ core claim that WhatsApp messages are accessible only to chat participants is false,” Texas alleged.
The state seeks injunctive relief prohibiting Meta and WhatsApp from accessing Texans’ WhatsApp communications without consent, along with civil penalties of up to $10,000 per alleged violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
Meanwhile, users sued Meta, WhatsApp, Accenture PLC and Accenture LLP, alleging the companies unlawfully intercepted and shared private WhatsApp messages with third parties.
What do you think about Texas’ claims against Meta and WhatsApp? Let us know in the comments.
Texas is represented by Ken Paxton, Brent Webster, Ralph Molina, Austin Kinghorn, Johnathan Stone, Jerry Bergman, John C. Hernandez and Kaylie Buettner of the Office of the Texas Attorney General, and Ashley C. Keller, J. Dominick Larry, Lauren E. Schultz and John J. Snidow of Keller Postman LLC.
The WhatsApp lawsuit is State of Texas v. Meta Platforms Inc., et al., case number not yet available, in the 71st Judicial District Court of Harrison County, Texas.
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