Facebook Messenger supports end-to-end encryption for voice and video calls

Facebook’s messaging app Messenger has announced that it supports end-to-end encryption for voice and video calls.

With the global emphasis on user privacy, the demand for message applications with fully encrypted message content in January 2021 is growing, supporting end-to-end encryption. As demand for messaging apps such as Signal and Telegram increased, some messaging apps experienced user churn.

In the midst of this, on August 13, 2021, Facebook Messenger barely announced that it would support end-to-end encryption. Accordingly, end-to-end encryption can be selectively activated for voice calls and video calls made in messenger. It also adds a management function for displaying messages in chat. Facebook says these new features will allow users to more efficiently manage calls and chats to some extent.

Messenger has been providing 1:1 text chat function using end-to-end encryption since 2016. However, in 2020, 150 million video calls were made per day on messengers, and the use of voice and video calls surged. Accordingly, Messenger has decided to support end-to-end encryption for voice and video calls.

End-to-end encryption is widely used in WhatsApp and others to help protect private calls and messages from hackers and criminals. Therefore, Facebook explains that end-to-end encryption is becoming an industry standard.

With end-to-end encryption, communications can be protected from being seen only by users who have access to chat or call transcripts. In other words, there is no need to worry about Facebook checking the communication contents.

The messenger provides a message function in which the message is deleted in an end-to-end encryption thread. You can use this feature to specify when a message will expire. The message deletion period can be set from a minimum of 5 seconds to a maximum of 24 hours.

Facebook is also announcing that it will launch end-to-end encryption in group chats and calls as a new feature for Instagram as a new feature for Messenger. End-to-end encryption in group chats and calls seems to have already begun testing in some. Related information can be found here.