Facebook will test encrypted messages and secure storage for all end-to-end chats, which will prevent employees from seeing chat content or sharing it with police, according to a press release from its parent company Meta.
The purpose of the encrypted messages is to allow users to save and backup messages in case users lose their phone or want to restore message history to a new device, Meta said.
It means that [they] don’t have access to your messages unless you choose to report them [Meta].’
An announcement to let users encrypt messages comes three days after the company announced it had turned over chats between a Nebraska mother and daughter about preparations for the teenage daughter’s internal abortion to police officers.
Despite the possible connection between the two incidents, the “announcement was unrelated to the Nebraska case or any law enforcement investigation,” a Facebook official told .
Meta, the social media giant’s parent company, turned over the direct messages as part of an investigation into the Nebraska teen’s illegal abortion, court documents show (file photo)
Jessica Burgess (right), 41, and her daughter Celeste (not pictured), 17, have been charged with removing, hiding or leaving behind a dead human body
Celeste Burgess, 17, is said to have had a stillbirth before cremating and burying the fetus
“We’ve been planning this announcement for months and have regularly shared updates on our progress toward end-to-end encryption for personal messaging and chat by default.”
First tests of end-to-end encrypted chats started in August 2021.
Nebraska police officers filed a search warrant in June 2022, requesting data from Meta on Jessica Burgess, 41, and her 17-year-old daughter Celeste.
Investigations into the mother-daughter duo began in April, two months before the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. to overthrow Wade after police received reports that Jessica had been feeding her daughter abortion pills.
“Nothing in local law enforcement search warrants mentioned abortion,” Facebook said in a statement, while the company was told officials were investigating a “case of a stillborn baby who was cremated and buried.”
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told that Meta “regularly shares user information requested by US law enforcement agencies” and that the practice was “not uncommon.”
Messages between Jessica and Celeste on April 20 revealed that Jessica had advised her daughter to use the abortion pills.
Two days later, the couple reportedly cremated and buried the fetus after Celeste had a stillbirth.
Both women were charged with felony charges of removing, concealing or leaving behind a dead human body and misdemeanor misrepresentation of the death of another person and false reporting.
A copy of the chat between Celeste and Jessica released by Meta to Madison County Police Officers
Meta said in a statement shared on Twitter that she was unaware that law enforcement was investigating a suspected illegal abortion
Jessica was later charged with two other felonies, including performing or attempting an abortion after more than 20 weeks and performing an abortion as an unlicensed doctor.
Celeste was 23 weeks pregnant at the time of her alleged stillbirth.
Both women have pleaded not guilty and are currently awaiting trial.
Additional updates to Meta’s Messenger app include the ability to retract messages and remove “disappear mode.”
Messenger will soon feature a new mode where all messages will disappear at a selected time after seeing them.
Secure Messenger chat storage can be accessed via a PIN or generated authentication code, with additional recovery via a third-party cloud service.
Storage is currently being tested on both Android and iOS and is not yet available via the desktop app or unencrypted chats.