Meta statement on Narin Güran murder: 'We do not store messages'

Meta has provided a statement to DW Türkçe regarding the request for deleted WhatsApp messages as part of the investigation into the murder of Narin Güran. 

WE DO NOT BACK UP PERSONAL CONVERSATIONS

Refuting reports in the Turkish press that “Meta refused to share information,” Meta Communications Director Joshua Breckman stated, “WhatsApp does not back up personal conversations. It is not possible for us to provide data that we do not possess.”

According to the report by Muhammed Kafadar from DW Türkçe, Breckman explained that due to the way WhatsApp operates, it is impossible for them to access message content. 

'IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO RECOVER MESSAGES'

Emphasizing that deleted messages cannot be recovered, Breckman stated, "If messages have not been backed up, it is impossible to retrieve them." WhatsApp noted that messages are not stored on Meta servers, that backups are only stored on Google Drive or iCloud, and that even these contents are unreadable due to end-to-end encryption.

As part of the investigation, judicial authorities had requested assistance from Meta to access the deleted WhatsApp messages of suspects. However, according to information on the company's website, only limited information such as usernames, last seen dates, and IP addresses can be shared in response to court orders.

WhatsApp stated that while it cannot access message content, it can collect message and call log records belonging to a specific user upon a court order.