Skip to main content

Yes, Facebook is reading the messages you send through Messenger

In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal that has rocked the public’s trust in social media giant Facebook, the company’s founder and CEO has unveiled even more information about the way in which Facebook interacts with its users’ data. In an interview with Vox’s Ezra Klein, Zuckerberg noted that Facebook’s system is capable of detecting “what’s going on” in the Messenger app. He added that when “sensational messages” are found, “We stop those messages from going through.”

Of course, this raised significant questions about the extent to which Facebook monitors its popular chatting app, and later, the company told Bloomberg that although Messenger conversations are considered private, “Facebook scans them and uses the same tools to prevent abuse there that it does on the social network more generally.”

Recommended Videos

The social network noted that all content on the site must conform to identical “community standards.” Posts or messages that seem to run against these standards can be reported by fellow users, in which case the company’s “community operations” team conducts a review. Sometimes, automated tools conduct a review as well.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

“For example, on Messenger, when you send a photo, our automated systems scan it using photo matching technology to detect known child exploitation imagery or when you send a link, we scan it for malware or viruses,” a Facebook Messenger spokeswoman said in a statement. “Facebook designed these automated tools so we can rapidly stop abusive behavior on our platform.”

Facebook further noted that the ways in which Messenger looks into users’ messages are, in fact, “very similar to those that other internet companies use today.”

However, another major Facebook-owned chat app prides itself on being entirely unable to read the content sent across its platform. WhatsApp, which Facebook acquired in 2014, boasts end-to-end encryption, which means that WhatsApp cannot read messages at all. While Messenger does have an encrypted option, users have to opt into it and toggle it on.

Facebook recently updated its data policy and set forth new terms of service in order to demystify the rules around Facebook and its related services — notably Messenger and Instagram. We covered this move by the company here. And in a blog post, the network wrote, “We better explain how we combat abuse and investigate suspicious activity, including by analyzing the content people share.”

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Instagram’s newest feature will let you know when it does go down
Instagram login screen.

Instagram (and other Facebook services) suffered an extended outage last week that lasted multiple hours and briefly caused chaos across the internet, particularly in developing countries. Today, the company announced an update coming to its mobile app, letting users know when an outage is experienced.

This test is a U.S.-only one for the most part, and Facebook isn't making any promises that it'll make it permanent, only that it'll be evaluating the results and see if it makes sense to expand it in the future.

Read more
Facebook’s massive outage saw millions sign up for rival apps
facebook hacked

When Facebook users had finished mocking the company over its calamitous global outage on Monday, October 4, many apparently flocked to rival apps in order to get back in touch with friends and family.

The six-hour outage -- caused by configuration changes to Facebook's routers that prevented its computer systems from communicating in the usual way -- also impacted Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram, which Facebook also operates.

Read more
This is how much Facebook’s outage is thought to have cost it
facebook hacked

It wasn’t just Facebook’s reputation that took a massive hit on Monday after its site went down globally along with Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, which it also operates.

The company's ad revenue was also affected during the unexpected outage that some experts are saying is the worst to ever hit Facebook.

Read more