Texas sues Meta and WhatsApp over encryption privacy claims
The state seeks monetary penalties and injunctive relief, citing federal investigations and SEC whistleblower reports, while Meta denies the allegations.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office has initiated legal proceedings against Meta Platforms Inc and its messaging service, WhatsApp, alleging the companies misled consumers regarding the strength and scope of their encryption measures. The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in Harrison County court, contends that the firms market their services as secure while retaining access to users’ private communications, a claim Meta has firmly rejected.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stated that WhatsApp markets its services as encrypted but fails to deliver on those promises. The complaint asserts that Meta has access to “virtually all” private communications on the platform, despite assurances to the contrary. Under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the state’s primary consumer protection law, the lawsuit seeks a court order barring Meta and WhatsApp from accessing Texans’ messages without consent, alongside demands for monetary penalties.
In response to the filing, Meta spokesman Andy Stone denied the allegations via social media. Stone asserted that the lawsuit’s claims are false and maintained that WhatsApp cannot access people’s encrypted communications. The legal action references external triggers, including news reports of a federal investigation into claims that Meta had access to unencrypted WhatsApp messages and a whistleblower report submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
This litigation aligns with a broader pattern of aggressive consumer protection efforts by the Texas Attorney General’s Office against major technology firms. In May 2025, Google agreed to pay $1.375 billion to settle claims that it violated users’ data privacy. More recently, on May 11, Paxton’s office filed a lawsuit against Netflix, accusing the streaming service of spying on consumers and designing its platform to be addictive, allegations Netflix denied as inaccurate.
The validity of the claim that Meta has access to “virtually all” private communications remains disputed and unproven in court. The outcome of the lawsuit is unknown, as are the specific monetary penalties sought. The details of the cited federal investigation and whistleblower report are referenced in the complaint but are not fully detailed in the source material.
