Meta Starts Fully Encrypting Messages on Facebook and Messenger App

Meta Platforms said it has started fully encrypting messages on Facebook by default, moving ahead with a privacy measure that government officials and others have warned could hide illegal activity by child predators and other criminals.

The social-media giant starting this week is automatically shifting Facebook users to so-called end-to-end encryption for their messages on that platform and its connected Messenger app, it said in a blog post Wednesday.