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00:02Meta executives moved forward with plans in 2019 to implement default end-to-end encryption
00:08on Facebook Messenger and later Instagram direct messages, according to Reuters.
00:12Internal documents show senior safety leaders warned the move would reduce the company's
00:17ability to detect and report child exploitation. A court filing made public Friday includes
00:22internal emails and briefing documents from a lawsuit alleging that Meta allowed predators
00:27to access underage users and connect with victims, leading to abuse and trafficking.
00:32In a March 2019 internal chat, Meta's head of content policy, Monica Bickert, wrote that
00:38implementing the encryption plan was irresponsible as Zuckerberg prepared to announce it publicly.
00:43End-to-end encryption is a standard privacy feature used by apps such as iMessage, Google
00:47Messages, and WhatsApp. A February 2019 Meta briefing document estimated that reports of
00:53child exploitation imagery to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children would
00:58have fallen to 6.4 million from 18.4 million, a 65% drop, if Messenger had been encrypted.
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