TikTok Won’t Add E2EE for User Safety

TikTok told the BBC that it will not be rolling out end-to-end encrypted DMs, citing user safety as a concern.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.privacyguides.org/news/2026/03/04/tiktok-wont-add-e2ee-for-user-safety
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‘‘Controversial Privacy Tech’’. They framed E2EE like it is a nuclear weapon.

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E2EE is user safety.

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For authoritarian companies wanting control and as much data about you, it may as well be.

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Ah yes, the old “the children aren’t safe until nobody has privacy” logic.

With that logic we should put cameras inside every home so we can watch for child abuse. Record the way parents talk to their kids at all times. Random house raids so we can potentially find abusive materials. Phone access at all times.

It never ends once you start pulling on that thread. We will always have bad people and suffering. I don’t think that means we should give up any and all privacy. Refusing E2EE is just another one of those thought lines.

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To be clear, I wouldn’t trust their E2EE even if they did. So really they saved themselves a bunch of money.

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was about to say this, tiktok’s privacy policy is one of the most atrocious things i’ve ever read, they collect every single tidbit about you big or small. i wouldn’t trust their “encryption” for a second. before i started my privacy lifestyle, back when i was using tiktok i saw the most personalized ads it was creepy. i especially wouldn’t trust it now that it’s owned by the americans