US agencies probe claims Meta staff could access WhatsApp messages

US law enforcement agencies have investigated allegations by former Meta Platforms contractors that Meta personnel were able to access WhatsApp messages, despite the company’s repeated assurances that the messaging service is private and end-to-end encrypted, according to interviews and an agent’s report seen by Bloomberg News.

The claims, made by former contractors who said they and some Meta staff had unfettered access to WhatsApp messages, were examined by special agents from the US Department of Commerce, according to law enforcement records, a person familiar with the matter and one of the contractors. Similar allegations were also raised in a 2024 whistleblower complaint submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Bloomberg reported. The investigation and complaint had not been previously disclosed.

The allegations contrast sharply with Meta’s public messaging around WhatsApp, which it has consistently marketed as a private service protected by default end-to-end encryption, meaning that no one outside a chat, including WhatsApp itself, can access message content. Meta has cited this architecture in communications with governments seeking access to user data, stating that such access is technically impossible.

Meta denied the claims, with spokesperson Andy Stone stating in an email that WhatsApp, its employees and its contractors cannot access people’s encrypted communications. Meta shares fell about one per cent in extended trading following the report.

According to Bloomberg, two content moderators who worked on WhatsApp through a contract with Accenture told an investigator from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security in 2024 that some Meta staff were able to view WhatsApp message content. The moderators also alleged they themselves had broad access to messages that were supposed to be encrypted and inaccessible, the agent’s report stated.

The report, dated July 2025, described the inquiry as ongoing and referred to it as Operation Sourced Encryption. It included a case number and identified both the investigating agent and the reviewing assistant special agent in charge. A person familiar with the matter said the inquiry was still active as recently as January, though its current status and potential targets remain unclear.

A spokesperson for the Bureau of Industry and Security said the agent’s assertions about WhatsApp’s encryption practices were unsubstantiated and outside the scope of his authority, adding that the bureau is not investigating WhatsApp or Meta for export law violations.

Meta has previously faced scrutiny over user privacy practices, including incidents that led to a $5 billion fine by the US Federal Trade Commission in 2019, though those cases did not involve WhatsApp. The company maintains that WhatsApp messages are protected by encryption keys stored only on users’ devices, which are not accessible to Meta, and says the investigative report does not provide a technical basis for the contractors’ claims.