Mark Zuckerberg's 'Dumb' Users Chat Revived By Pavel Durov As Meta Faces Lawsuit Over WhatsApp Privacy Claims: 'The Only Thing That's Changed...'

On Monday, Telegram founder Pavel Durov shared a controversial 2004 chat attributed to Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg to criticize WhatsApp's privacy assurances.

Durov Resurfaces Old Zuckerberg Messages

Durov took to X and shared a screenshot of a 2004 AOL Instant Messenger conversation in which a teenage Zuckerberg appeared to mock early Facebook users for trusting him with their personal data.

The exchange, first reported years ago, showed Zuckerberg suggesting users willingly handed over emails and photos before disparaging their trust.

Commenting on the resurfaced chat, Durov said the difference today is only the "scale," arguing that WhatsApp's parent company is now benefiting from the trust of billions of users rather than a few thousand.

He alleged that users continue to believe Meta's privacy assurances despite repeated controversies.

WhatsApp Privacy Lawsuit Fuels Debate

Durov's remarks come as Meta faces a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco by an international group of plaintiffs.

The suit alleges Meta misled users by marketing WhatsApp as fully end-to-end encrypted while still being able to store, analyze or access large volumes of user communications.

Meta has denied the allegations, calling the case "frivolous" and maintaining that WhatsApp's encryption prevents the company from reading private messages.

Musk Weighs In, Meta Pushes Back

The controversy gained further attention after Elon Musk labeled WhatsApp "not secure."

WhatsApp head Will Cathcart rejected the claims, saying, "WhatsApp can't read messages because the encryption keys are stored on your phone and we don't have access to them."

He said the lawsuit lacks merit and is aimed at generating headlines, noting it was filed by the same firm that previously represented NSO Group, whose spyware was used to target journalists and government officials.

WhatsApp last year won a $168 million jury verdict against Israel-based NSO Group over a 2019 hacking campaign involving Pegasus spyware.

Zuckerberg's Past, Present Scrutiny

Zuckerberg has previously expressed regret over the 2004 messages, telling The New Yorker in 2010 that he had grown since then and should not be defined by remarks made at 19.

Meta did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comments.

Price Action: Meta closed down 1.41% at $706.41 on Monday and the stock slipped another 0.058% in after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro.

META stock ranks highly for Quality in Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings and shows a favorable price trend across the short, medium and long-term time frames.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.