‘We see you’: WhatsApp’s joke turns into privacy scare for users

WEB DESK: WhatsApp found itself in an unexpected storm on Tuesday after a seemingly light-hearted post on X (formerly Twitter) left users questioning the company’s privacy claims.

The messaging platform posted, “people who end messages with ‘lol’, we see you, we honour you”, sparking a wave of concern and confusion online. While the company later clarified that it was “just a joke,” many users were not amused and began questioning how WhatsApp could “see” anything if its chats are truly end-to-end encrypted.

One user commented, “‘we see you’… aren’t we end-to-end encrypted? How can you see then?” echoing the sentiment shared by hundreds of others who flooded the post with similar worries.

In response, WhatsApp replied, “‘we see you’ is meant figuratively, not literally! End-to-end encryption means NO ONE, not even we, can see your messages.”

However, the clarification did little to stop the flood of questions. Some users asked if WhatsApp could also “see” photos and videos shared on the platform. Others joked that the post might have been written by an intern who had accidentally revealed WhatsApp’s “secrets.”

As the debate continued, WhatsApp doubled down on its clarification, posting again to assure users that their privacy was intact. “Your personal messages are private between you and the recipient. ‘We see you’ in our original post was meant as a way to say we relate to and understand people who love to use ‘lol’ to end a message,” the company reiterated.

While the tweet was likely meant as a playful nod to online texting habits, it instead reignited a deeper conversation about user trust and how even a small joke can trigger big privacy fears in the digital age.