Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Meta this week, accusing the company of misleading consumers about the privacy protections offered by its WhatsApp messaging service. The complaint, described by Paxton’s office as a landmark case, claims that Meta has falsely asserted that WhatsApp messages are fully encrypted and inaccessible to third parties, including the company itself.
According to the filing, WhatsApp’s website states that “no one outside of the chat, not even WhatsApp, can read, listen to, or share what a user says.” The Texas Attorney General’s office argues that these promotional claims about end-to-end encryption have led millions of users to believe their communications are completely private when that may not be the case.
Paxton’s office cited media reports and whistleblower accounts in alleging that Meta’s statements amount to a “complete and total misrepresentation of Meta’s privacy policies.” The lawsuit contends that the company’s materials have given users a false sense of security regarding their messages.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone pushed back strongly against the allegations. “WhatsApp cannot access people’s encrypted communications and any suggestion to the contrary is false,” Stone said in a statement. The company has vowed to fight the lawsuit in court.
The action comes amid broader scrutiny of WhatsApp’s encryption practices. A separate class-action lawsuit filed in a U.S. district court by an international group of plaintiffs makes similar claims, alleging that Meta and WhatsApp “store, analyze, and can access virtually all of WhatsApp users’ purportedly ‘private’ communications.” Those plaintiffs also referenced unspecified whistleblowers.
WhatsApp was acquired by Meta, then known as Facebook, in 2014 for $22 billion. In a 2018 interview with Forbes, WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton reflected on the sale, stating, “I sold my users’ privacy to a larger benefit. I made a choice and a compromise.”
Pavel Durov, founder of rival app Telegram, commented on the Texas lawsuit on X, writing that “now we know what WhatsApp’s founder meant when he said he ‘sold his users’ privacy.’” Durov has previously claimed that “you’d have to be braindead to believe WhatsApp is secure in 2026,” asserting that his team had identified multiple attack vectors in the app’s encryption.
Bloomberg has reported that U.S. federal authorities have been investigating similar allegations for some time. The Texas case marks the first state-level legal action of its kind targeting Meta’s WhatsApp privacy claims.
Officials in Paxton’s office said the lawsuit seeks to hold Meta accountable for what they describe as deceptive marketing practices. The complaint focuses on how the company has promoted end-to-end encryption to users in Texas and elsewhere.
Meta maintains that its encryption technology prevents the company from accessing message content. Stone reiterated that position in response to the filing, emphasizing that any claims suggesting otherwise are inaccurate.
The lawsuit highlights ongoing debates over data privacy in messaging apps. WhatsApp has more than two billion users worldwide, many of whom rely on the service for personal and business communications.
According to the Texas Attorney General’s announcement, the case will examine the gap between Meta’s public statements and its actual data practices. Court documents are expected to detail specific examples of the alleged misrepresentations.
Industry observers note that similar privacy concerns have surfaced with other platforms in recent years. The outcome of this case could influence how messaging services market their security features going forward.
Paxton’s office said it will continue to pursue the matter aggressively. Meta has not indicated any plans to alter its WhatsApp encryption policies in response to the suit.