TikTok wont encrypt your DMs
Source: Mashable Tech
TikTok’s Stance on Direct‑Message Encryption
Credit: Samuel Boivin / NurPhoto via Getty Images
TikTok won’t encrypt your direct messages like other platforms such as Instagram, Messenger, and X, which all offer end‑to‑end encryption for added privacy.
According to a report by the BBC, TikTok has no plans to add end‑to‑end encryption to its DMs. The company told the outlet that it believes encryption could put users at risk because it prevents law‑enforcement and safety teams from accessing private messages.
“Encryption stops law enforcement and safety teams from accessing private messages,” the company explained.
This stance has drawn scrutiny, especially after other Big‑Tech firms—most notably Meta—have been compelled to hand over user data, including DMs, to police.
Mashable has reached out to TikTok for comment.
Related topics: TikTok • Privacy • BBC report • What is end‑to‑end encryption?
So, what is end-to-encryption and why is it important?
A means of securing up your communication online, end‑to‑end encryption ensures that only you and your recipient can see your messages. Christianna Silva summarises it for Mashable: https://mashable.com/article/what-is-end-to-end-encryption-e2e
End‑to‑end encryption means no one — not hackers, not government officials, not the company that owns your device — can read your message while it’s being sent. It basically takes your message, jumbles it up, sends it, and unjumbles it once it reaches your recipient. So anyone who tries to intercept your message in between you and your recipient just gets a bunch of gibberish instead of the message itself.
This is important because messages can pass through many hands on their way from sender to recipient, such as:
- the service you use to send the message,
- the Internet service providers involved, and
- servers that store the message data for any amount of time.
Apps and platforms like Signal, iMessage, and WhatsApp all provide end‑to‑end encryption, but it’s not that straightforward — the technology’s backdoors and compliance with authorities can lead to major problems.
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Apple’s iMessage kicked off the party in 2011 as the first messaging service with end‑to‑end encryption enabled by default — Apple boosted it in 2024 with post‑quantum encryption key PQ3. Law enforcement can request data from Apple with a search warrant, but they’ve been foiled before.
Meta has had a roller‑coaster ride through end‑to‑end encryption, slowly adding it to platforms like Facebook and Instagram. WhatsApp switched it on in 2016, but law enforcement can request access to your metadata.
- Between January and June 2025, over 374,000 data requests were logged by government sources with Meta, of which the company says 78 % had data supplied.
- In the immediate aftermath of the reversal of Roe v. Wade, police used Facebook chat logs to prosecute a person seeking an abortion.
Signal has long been associated with its end‑to‑end encryption, becoming the communication method of choice for activists, journalists, and privacy‑concerned users. Signal says its services “do not provide access to emergency service providers like the police, fire department, hospitals, or other public safety organizations,” though the FBI has found ways to spy on users.
Telegram, which has been around since 2013, doesn’t have end‑to‑end encryption on by default. There are two types of encryption in Telegram: one for private and group chats and one for “Secret Chats,” which adds another layer of encryption (that must be enabled). Telegram has faced multiple controversies, including a colossal revenge‑porn problem and a case of human‑rights violations.
X (formerly Twitter) replaced its DMs with Chat, which is end‑to‑end encrypted but not by default. Users must set up a public‑private key pair when they first use the feature. X says it uses “a combination of strong cryptographic schemes to encrypt every single message, link, and reaction that are part of an encrypted conversation before they leave the sender’s device and remain encrypted while stored on X’s infrastructure. Once messages are received by the recipient devices, they are decrypted so that they can be read by the user.” It isn’t watertight, however.
Zoom straight‑up lied about its encryption in 2020, resulting in a class‑action lawsuit and an $85 million settlement.
There are plenty more apps and platforms using end‑to‑end encryption, which makes TikTok’s decision stand out. And it’s not the only reason TikTok is raising concerns with users.
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UK Editor
Shannon Connellan is Mashable’s UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable’s Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer‑approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.
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