Meta faces lawsuit over WhatsApp privacy claims, Bloomberg reports

Meta Platforms Inc. is facing a lawsuit from an international group of plaintiffs who allege the company misled users about the privacy protections of its WhatsApp messaging service, Bloomberg reported.

The lawsuit, filed on Friday in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, challenges Meta’s long-standing claims that WhatsApp messages are protected by end-to-end encryption. The company has consistently promoted the feature as a safeguard that prevents anyone other than the sender and recipient from accessing message content. Within the app, WhatsApp tells users that their messages “can only be read, heard, or shared by participants in a chat.”

The plaintiffs argue those representations are false. According to the complaint, Meta and WhatsApp “retain, analyze, and are capable of accessing users’ communications,” despite marketing them as private. The lawsuit accuses the company and its executives of “deceiving” WhatsApp’s global user base about the true nature of its data practices.

The plaintiffs include individuals from several countries, including Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico, and South Africa, Bloomberg reported.

Meta has dismissed the claims. In an emailed statement cited by Bloomberg, company spokesperson Andy Stone described the lawsuit as baseless. “Any claim that people’s WhatsApp messages are not encrypted is categorically false and absurd,” Stone said, adding that WhatsApp has relied on the Signal encryption protocol for nearly a decade. He characterized the lawsuit as “a frivolous work of fiction.”

The lawsuit comes as Meta faces increasing regulatory scrutiny, particularly in Europe. WhatsApp was recently added to the European Union’s list of “very large online platforms” under the Digital Services Act (DSA) after its channels feature surpassed 45 million monthly users. The designation subjects the Meta-owned app to stricter rules on content moderation, transparency, and systemic risk management. Under the DSA, WhatsApp must comply by late May with obligations “aimed at curbing electoral manipulation, illegal content, and privacy risks.” The move has drawn criticism from the U.S. government, which has argued that the law amounts to censorship.

On the other hand, WhatsApp has become the dominant messaging platform across much of Africa, with user numbers reaching striking levels in major markets by 2025. Nigeria is among the company’s largest markets globally, with an estimated 90 to 100 million users, nearly half of the country’s population and roughly 95% of internet users.

South Africa follows with approximately 28 to 29 million users, reflecting near-universal adoption among connected citizens. Ghana stands out with 20 to 21 million users and the highest proportion of WhatsApp usage relative to population, at around 63%. Ivory Coast has more than 10 million users, while Cameroon counts between 8 and 10 million. Uganda, despite lower smartphone penetration, still has an estimated 4.7 to 5 million users, with nearly all internet users relying on the app.

These figures underscore WhatsApp’s central role in African digital life. Its affordability, low data consumption, and versatility have made it indispensable for personal communication, business transactions, and community engagement, even in countries facing infrastructure challenges.

Beyond everyday communication, WhatsApp has become a powerful political tool across the continent. In Nigeria, large WhatsApp groups, often made up of trusted friends, colleagues, or community leaders, facilitate rapid information sharing. During election periods, politicians and so-called “propaganda secretaries” have exploited these networks to spread misinformation and fabricated stories in pursuit of influence and patronage. Despite efforts by fact-checkers and civil society groups, the sheer volume of false content often overwhelms attempts to counter it. Similar patterns, as Economist reported, of political manipulation have been documented in Sierra Leone, and Kenya. While WhatsApp has introduced restrictions on message forwarding to slow the spread of misinformation, experts argue the measures merely reduce velocity rather than eliminate the problem.

The lawsuit against Meta adds to longstanding concerns about the company’s privacy practices. In recent years, investigative researchers revealed that Meta’s Facebook and Instagram apps, along with Russia-based Yandex, had bypassed Android’s built-in privacy protections to covertly track users’ web browsing behavior.

Using hidden backdoor techniques that researchers said resembled malware operations, the companies allegedly exploited Meta’s Pixel tracking software to collect sensitive data without users’ knowledge or consent, and without Google’s awareness. The data reportedly included financial information, online shopping behavior, and detailed browsing activity.

Although Meta and Yandex said they halted the practices after they were exposed, privacy experts condemned the actions as a serious breach of user trust and a stark example of the risks posed by corporate surveillance.

These privacy concerns are particularly alarming when viewed against the backdrop of Africa’s growing reliance on Meta’s digital services for communication, commerce, and social engagement. This increasing dependence is unfolding in a context where many African countries lack robust, continent-wide data protection frameworks and effective regulatory enforcement mechanisms. At the same time, the continent is rapidly digitizing, with expanding internet access and technological adoption outpacing the development of comprehensive privacy safeguards.