Texas Sues Meta and WhatsApp over False Encryption Claims

JAKARTA - The Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, has filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms and WhatsApp with the allegation that messages sent through the service are actually not encrypted and the application's employees can access user communications.

"Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc. and WhatsApp LLC after the company misled consumers about the strength and scope of privacy protection on the WhatsApp messaging app," the attorney general's office said as reported by RIA Novosti.

Attorney General Paxton is seeking a trial by jury and asking the court to issue an order prohibiting the defendants from accessing the messages of Texas residents without the explicit consent of the user.

Paxton also said the company's claims had led millions of users to mistakenly believe their conversations were completely private and inaccessible by third parties.

Previously, Paxton had successfully obtained a large-scale privacy case settlement against a giant technology company.

In 2024, he reached an agreement worth 1.4 billion US dollars (about Rp24.8 trillion) with Meta regarding the collection of biometric data without permission. In 2025, Google also agreed to a settlement of 1.375 billion US dollars (Rp24.3 trillion) for allegations of tracking and illegally collecting personal data of Texas residents.