Security News > 2021 > May > Facebook: Don't expect full end-to-end encryption on Messenger until 2022 'at the earliest'
Facebook has pledged to make end-to-end encryption the default across all of its messaging services - though has told users not to expect it on Facebook Messenger or Instagram Direct until 2022 "At the earliest".
Gail Kent, Facebook's policy director for Messenger, shared a blog post on 30 April outlining the social media company's plans to improve the security of its messaging apps following the surge in private messaging during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Facebook has introduced a number of privacy and safety tools over the past year, including additional privacy settings, messaging forwarding limits, an app lock and Snapchat-style disappearing messages, end-to-end encryption remains a work in progress.
Kent said the company was "Working hard to bring default end-to-end encryption" to all of its messaging services, but added that this was "a long-term project and we won't be fully end-to-end encrypted until sometime in 2022 at the earliest."
End-to-end encryption has been perhaps one of the most sought-after safety features within messaging and meeting platforms since video conferencing became the norm in 2020.
In the UK, Facebook is facing calls to keep its messaging platforms unencrypted to help law enforcement tackle abuse on the platform.