Trump Admin Closes Investigation Into Alleged Backdoor for WhatsApp: Report
The U.S. Commerce Department has closed an investigation into claims that Meta employees and contractors could access encrypted WhatsApp messages, allegations the company strongly denies. A federal agent spent much of 2025 probing the possibility of a backdoor, sharing unverified findings with officials in January before the probe was abruptly ended. Meta maintains that WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted and cannot be read by the company. The Bureau of Industry and Security reportedly disavowed the investigation, calling the claims unsubstantiated.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
The U.S. Commerce Department has reportedly closed an investigation into whether Meta employees and contractors were able to read the contents of encrypted WhatsApp messages. A special agent at the federal agency reportedly spent much of 2025 investigating allegations that Meta can view WhatsApp messages, claims that the company denies.cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({"playerId":"92b7b46b-43ed-4e0e-b21b-2c999302d9d7","settings":{"advertising":{"macros":{"AD_UNIT":"/23178111854/od.gizmodo.com/article","CHILD_UNIT":"article","POST_ID":"2000751760","POST_TYPE":"post","CHANNEL":"tech","SECTION":"privacy-and-security","SUBSECTION":"","CATEGORIES":"privacy-and-security","TAGS":"cybersecurity,meta,whatsapp","NOP":"0"},"timeBeforeFirstAd":0}}}).render("cnx-player-main")}); According to a new report…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Gizmodo.
Discussion
0 commentsMore from Gizmodo
