After the announcement last Friday that Facebook would veto both the publication and the monetization of media linked to RT and Sputnik, Meta (Facebook’s new name) has taken more measures in response to the conflict in Ukraine.
The latest news is that the company will offer encrypted direct messages on Instagram to all adults in both Ukraine and Russia. Instagram users will be alerted to the option by a notification that appears at the top of their DMs inbox, letting them know they can switch to an encrypted conversation if they wish.
Why isn’t encryption a feature of all of Instagram?
This is the question that remains before such a measure. Yes OK Meta already offers encrypted messages in WhatsApp by default, this is not something that extends to the rest of their apps. Messenger, for example, will not have it by default until 2023, although it can be activated manually some time ago.
From Facebook they explain that this decision comes for “increase the safety of activists, creators, influencers and even musicians who use Facebook and Instagram to access information and speak out against the Russian invasion.”
In addition to this, the company has also rolled out security features for users in Ukraine and Russia, such as the possibility of blocking the Facebook profile and remove the option that they can and search and see in the friends lists. A feature they originally launched in 2020 as a security measure for women in India.
They are without a doubt useful options that help users, especially those in situations of greater vulnerability, like citizens of countries in conflict. But they are also measures that users around the world could benefit from, in all kinds of situations and conflicts, and that for some reason do not deserve to be enabled for these options as well.
Instagram is clearly ready to enable encryption on its platform, quickly and effectively. So why only in Russia and Ukraine and not for the rest of its hundreds of millions of users around the world?