WhatsApp Encryption Claims Under Fire: Texas Sues Meta, Saying 3.3 Billion Users Were Misled

What does the Texas lawsuit against WhatsApp and Meta actually allege, and is Signal a safer alternative?

By Shannon Harwood

Published: May 23 2026, 10:29 AM EDThttps://www.techtimes.com/articles/317065/20260523/whatsapp-encryption-claims-under-fire-texas-sues-meta-saying-33-billion-users-were-misled.htm

Texas sued Meta and WhatsApp on May 21, 2026, under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

The lawsuit claims Meta stored some WhatsApp messages unencrypted and allowed employees or contractors to access message content through an internal system.

The complaint references whistleblower claims and a Commerce Department investigation.

Meta denied the allegations, calling them false and saying WhatsApp uses the Signal end-to-end encryption protocol.

A similar federal class-action lawsuit was filed in California in March 2026.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov criticized WhatsApp after the lawsuit and promoted Telegram instead.

WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton previously said he compromised user privacy when selling the company to Facebook.

Signal was described as more privacy-focused because it encrypts all chats and backups by default and collects minimal metadata.

Experts said WhatsApp's encryption protocol itself is generally considered technically secure.

The case is ongoing and Meta has not yet filed a formal court response.