DISINFO: Zuckerberg confirmed that the CIA can read WhatsApp messages
SUMMARY
The CIA can read WhatsApp messages, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He has acknowledged that US authorities, including the CIA, can access WhatsApp messages by remotely logging into users’ devices, effectively bypassing the platform’s end-to-end encryption.
RESPONSE
This is a distortion of the comments made by Mark Zuckerberg in the podcast The Joe Rogan Experience (see 02:32:20). Contrary to what this disinformation story states, he did not confirm these allegations. Zuckerberg explained that actors using spyware can take over a target’s phone, rendering WhatsApp encryption useless, which is a very different issue. While responding to a question about Tucker Carlson’s claims that the CIA or FBI told him they read his messages and knew he was going to interview Vladimir Putin, Zuckerberg never mentioned US intelligence or authorities. He specifically mentioned Israeli software Pegasus, but there are many others that could fit into Zuckerberg’s description, including Russia’s Monokle.
Quoting legitimate Western sources while distorting their content to introduce a pro-Kremlin message as if it were part of the original story is a frequent pro-Kremlin manipulative technique. In this case, by framing these spyware practices as done solely by US intelligence services, this disinformation story aims to stoke anti-US feelings among targeted audiences.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the Signal messaging app was developed and kept afloat with US intelligence funding, that Spanish authorities were using illegal software to spy on WhatsApp groups of farmer protests, that the West uses technology platforms for geopolitical ends, or that Facebook is in the service of the US State Department.