A new legal battle is unfolding in Texas, where state officials have accused Meta Platforms and its messaging platform WhatsApp of misleading users about how private their conversations really are.
The lawsuit, filed by the Texas Attorney General’s Office in Harrison County, claims the companies promoted WhatsApp as a secure, end-to-end encrypted service while allegedly retaining broad access to user communications. According to the complaint, Texans were led to believe their messages were completely shielded from outside access, even though the state argues Meta could still reach significant portions of user data exchanged through the app.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the platform’s marketing painted a picture of airtight privacy protections that, in the state’s view, did not match reality.
Meta pushed back quickly. Company spokesperson Andy Stone rejected the allegations publicly, insisting WhatsApp’s encrypted messages remain inaccessible to the company itself. Meta maintains that the platform’s encryption system prevents even its own staff from reading private chats.
The lawsuit seeks court orders that would prohibit Meta and WhatsApp from accessing Texans’ messages without explicit consent. State officials are also pursuing financial penalties under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, a consumer protection law frequently used in privacy-related disputes.
Texas cited media reports and whistleblower claims tied to a federal inquiry examining whether Meta had access to certain unencrypted WhatsApp communications. The case also references materials reportedly submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The filing adds to an expanding list of tech-sector clashes led by Paxton’s office. Over the past year, Texas has aggressively pursued data privacy cases against major technology firms, including Google. In another recent action, the state sued Netflix, accusing the streaming giant of improperly gathering consumer data and engineering addictive platform behavior aimed at younger users. Netflix has denied those accusations.
The new case signals that encrypted messaging — once marketed as Silicon Valley’s strongest privacy promise — is now becoming a central battleground in the broader fight over digital surveillance, consumer trust, and who truly controls personal data online.
