Elon Musk slams WhatsApp security as Meta faces lawsuit over encryption claims

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has publicly criticised Meta Platforms’ messaging service WhatsApp, raising fresh questions about data privacy just as the company faces a lawsuit accusing it of misleading users about message security.

Posting on his social media platform X, Musk claimed that WhatsApp is not secure and suggested users switch to X’s own messaging feature. He also expressed skepticism about other encrypted messaging apps, stating that even Signal’s privacy protections are open to doubt.

WhatsApp is not secure. Even Signal is questionable.

Use ???? Chat. https://t.co/MWXCOmkbTD

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 27, 2026

Musk’s remarks follow a lawsuit filed in the US District Court in San Francisco by an international group of plaintiffs, who allege that Meta has made false representations about the privacy of WhatsApp communications. The complaint challenges Meta’s long-standing claim that WhatsApp messages are protected by end-to-end encryption, meaning only the sender and recipient can access them.

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According to the lawsuit, Meta and WhatsApp allegedly store, analyse, and retain the ability to access a broad range of user communications that are marketed as private. The plaintiffs accuse the company and its leadership of misleading billions of WhatsApp users worldwide by promoting encryption as a core privacy guarantee while allegedly maintaining internal access to message data.

End-to-end encryption has been central to WhatsApp’s positioning as a secure messaging platform, particularly in markets where privacy concerns and surveillance fears are high. Meta has repeatedly said that it cannot read users’ personal messages, framing encryption as a key safeguard against misuse.

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Meta, which acquired WhatsApp in 2014, has strongly rejected the allegations. A company spokesperson described the lawsuit as without merit and said Meta intends to seek sanctions against the plaintiffs’ legal counsel, signalling an aggressive defence.

The dispute adds to growing scrutiny of how large technology companies handle user data and communicate privacy protections, especially as encrypted platforms play an increasingly important role in global digital communication.