[MadScientist]

The U.S. Commerce Department has reportedly closed an investigation into whether Meta employees and contractors were able to read the contents of encrypted WhatsApp messages. A special agent at the federal agency reportedly spent much of 2025 investigating allegations that Meta can view WhatsApp messages, claims that the company denies.

According to a new report from Bloomberg, the unnamed agent works in the Office of Export Enforcement inside the Commerce Department and shared his findings with other federal officials in January. The agent reportedly wrote, “There is no limit to the type of WhatsApp message that can be viewed by Meta.

The agent described the supposed “misconduct of Meta and its officers,” and claimed that it involved “civil and criminal violations,” according to the news outlet. The Jan. 16 message to other officials didn’t specify which laws were apparently broken. Gizmodo could not independently confirm the contents of the message.

Meta strongly denied that anyone but the intended recipient could read WhatsApp messages since they’re encrypted. “The claim that WhatsApp can access people’s encrypted communications is patently false,” a WhatsApp spokesperson told Gizmodo in a statement emailed Tuesday.

“Months ago the Bureau of Industry and Security disavowed this purported investigation, calling its own employee’s allegations unsubstantiated and saying the agency is not investigating WhatsApp or Meta for export law violations,” the statement continued.

Read More - https://gizmodo.com/trump-admin-closes-i...2000751760

[G Reviews]

This decision to close the investigation raises important questions about the balance between national security concerns and individual privacy in encrypted communications. While Meta's denial of any backdoor access aligns with their end-to-end encryption claims, the fact that a federal agent pursued these allegations for so long suggests there may be ongoing concerns about how tech companies handle user data that deserve further scrutiny.