Texas AG Sues WhatsApp for ‘Lying About Privacy’
Texas AG Sues WhatsApp for ‘Lying About Privacy’
Publish Date: 2026-05-23 12:30:00
Source Domain: uk.pcmag.com
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Meta and WhatsApp, claiming that Meta “misled consumers regarding the strength and scope” of WhatsApp’s privacy protections, though encryption experts have criticized his claims.
WhatsApp provides end-to-end (E2EE) encryption, meaning no one, except the two parties involved, can read the messages, including Meta. Paxton, a Republican currently running for US Senate, claims that “investigations and insider accounts” have shown Meta’s claims about being unable to access users’ messages to be “blatantly inaccurate.” He alleges that reports suggest WhatsApp employees have been able to access user communications, and that “message content can be pulled and viewed after the message has been sent.”
“I am suing to protect Texans’ privacy and ensure that WhatsApp by Meta does not mislead Texans by unlawfully accessing private conversations and data,” the AG says.
The lawsuit alleges violations of Texas’s Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act (DTPA), which allows individuals and businesses to sue companies for false, misleading, or deceptive business practices.
In January, WhatsApp was hit with a class-action lawsuit that said its end-to-end encryption is a sham. Meta, however, called the claims “false and absurd.” More recently, Meta says it has tried to engage with the plaintiffs in that case, but isn’t getting anywhere. The “so-called ‘whistleblowers’ behind the complaint are confused, deeply misinformed, or acting in bad faith,” Meta says.
Paxton is citing a Bloomberg report from April 2026, in which a special agent with the Office of Export Enforcement allegedly examined claims that Meta employees and contractors could view WhatsApp message content. The case was later closed.
Benjamin Dowling, a senior lecturer in cryptography at King’s College London and a co-author of the study, tells Ars Technica that, “all the evidence we are aware of points towards WhatsApp…
