WASHINGTON — US Department of Commerce special agents investigated allegations that Meta Platforms employees and contractors accessed WhatsApp messages despite the company’s end-to-end encryption claims, according to law enforcement records dated July 2025 that describe the inquiry as ongoing. The probe, codenamed “Operation Sourced Encryption,” examined claims from two former content moderators who worked through Accenture Plc that they and some Meta staff had “unfettered” access to supposedly encrypted chats.
Bureau Denies Investigation Despite Documented Case
An investigator’s report from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security includes a case number, identifies the investigating agent and reviewing assistant special agent in charge, and was active as recently as January 2026. Yet a Bureau spokesperson stated the agent’s assertions about WhatsApp encryption were “unsubstantiated and outside the scope of his authority as an export enforcement agent,” adding the Bureau is not investigating WhatsApp or Meta for export law violations.
The contradiction between formal investigative documents and official denial raises questions about the inquiry’s legal basis and current status. The records do not explain what legal theory underpins the Commerce Department probe.
Contractors Describe Backend Message Access
Former Accenture contractor Larkin Fordyce told investigators he performed content moderation work for Meta starting in late 2018 from an Austin, Texas office. Fordyce said moderators eventually received direct access to WhatsApp, but even before that they could request communications and “the Facebook team was able to ‘pull whatever they wanted and then send it,'” according to the investigator’s report.
One content moderator told the investigator she had accessed messages personally and spoke with a Facebook team employee who confirmed they could “go back aways into WhatsApp (encrypted) messages,” including cases involving criminal investigations. The investigator wrote that “both sources confirmed that they had employees within their physical work locations who had unfettered access to WhatsApp”.
Fordyce, 38, confirmed to Bloomberg News he spoke with investigators multiple times. “I felt that sharing what I knew with the government was beneficial to the United States of America,” he said, declining to discuss investigation details or his work further.
Meta Flatly Denies Technical Possibility
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone rejected the allegations entirely. “What these individuals claim is not possible because WhatsApp, its employees, and its contractors, cannot access people’s encrypted communications,” Stone said. The company has consistently told governments seeking user data that such access is “technically impossible” under WhatsApp’s architecture.
WhatsApp markets itself with default end-to-end encryption using digital keys stored only on users’ devices, which should make messages unreadable by the company or any third party. Meta shares dropped approximately 1% in extended trading following the report’s publication Wednesday evening.
Timeline Shows Year-Long Inquiry Before Disclosure
The investigation has been active for over a year before becoming public January 29, 2026, when Bloomberg first reported the probe. A separate whistleblower complaint making similar claims was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024, according to law enforcement records and a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The inquiry’s current status and defined target remain unclear, and many investigations conclude without formal accusations.
Class-Action Lawsuit Parallels Federal Probe
International plaintiffs from Australia, India, Mexico, and South Africa filed a class-action lawsuit making related claims about Meta’s access to encrypted content. Some plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, the same firm that previously represented NSO Group in litigation with WhatsApp over spyware.
Stone said Meta would “continue to push back on false claims, including those shopped by the high-priced plaintiffs’ firm which has filed suit against WhatsApp”.
Investigation Focuses on Moderation Systems
The allegations focus on whether contractors and Meta staff had operational backend access through content moderation systems, rather than claiming the encryption protocol itself was broken. The distinction matters because end-to-end encryption protects message content in transit, but the investigation questions whether moderation operations created separate access pathways.
An Accenture spokesperson referred questions about the inquiry to Meta, declining further comment. Meta paid a $5 billion fine to the Federal Trade Commission in 2019 for privacy violations unrelated to WhatsApp.
The Bureau of Industry and Security oversees US export controls, though the records do not clarify how export enforcement authority applies to the encryption inquiry.
