Can’t trust WhatsApp: Elon Musk, Pavel Durov warn against platform’s alleged privacy failures

Billionaire Elon Musk and Telegram CEO Pavel Durov have sparked a debate around the privacy practices of WhatsApp, the messaging platform owned by Meta.

On Thursday, Musk posted on X saying, "can't trust WhatsApp." He later doubled down, urging users to switch to X Chat for messaging and calls, adding that it “comes with this great benefit of actual privacy.” This is not the first time Musk has commented on WhatsApp’s privacy.

Durov, meanwhile, accused WhatsApp of deceiving billions of users and called it the “biggest consumer fraud in history.” He alleged that the platform reads user messages and shares them with third parties, though he did not provide evidence alongside the claim.



Why the sudden attack on WhatsApp?

The tech entrepreneurs’ criticism follows a new class action lawsuit in the United States, which has put WhatsApp’s privacy claims under the spotlight. The case alleges that the platform intercepted private messages despite assuring users of strong end-to-end encryption. It also claims that data may have been shared with external partners, including Accenture.

The lawsuit, as quoted by online news website Classaction.org, states, “Nowhere does WhatsApp disclose that it, Meta, their respective employees, Accenture contractors, and/or third parties may read, access, or view the contents of all messages users send on WhatsApp, nor that app messages sent by users are intercepted and stored.”

According to the report, the lawsuit further claims that messages can be accessed through a “backdoor” in WhatsApp’s source code. While such access is primarily used to “review messages flagged for fraud” or policy-violating conduct, the case says that Meta, WhatsApp and Accenture employees still have “broad access to users’ messages

The complaint highlights how this happens despite WhatsApp's marketing materials and in-app messages stating that "not even WhatsApp" can see personal messages.

WhatsApp pushes back

WhatsApp immediately denied the allegations.

Replying to Musk’s post, WhatsApp called the claims in the lawsuit “categorically false and absurd.” It added: “WhatsApp has been end-to-end encrypted using the Signal protocol for a decade so your messages cannot be read by anyone other than the sender and recipient.”