chats by default - making it harder for workers to see contents or share them with police - days after it was revealed it handed over messages from teen, 17, who self-administered an abortion in Nebraska 

• Messenger app will allow users to encrypt and store all end-to-end chats 
• Announcement comes three days after the company revealed it handed over a chat between a Nebraska mother and daughter
• Jessica Burgess, 41, was discussing plans with her daughter, Celeste, 17, for an in-house abortion
• Both the mother and daughter face both felony and misdemeanor charges 
• Facebook says the new feature is not 'connected to the Nebraska case or law enforcement enquiries'
• Facebook will be testing encrypted messages and a secure storage for all end-to-end chats, which will prevent workers to see chat content or for them to be shared with police, according to a release from its parent company, Meta.

  The purpose for the encrypted messages is to allow users to store and back up messages in case users lose their phone or want to restore message history on a new device, Meta said. 

• This 'means that [they] won't have access to your messages, unless you choose to report them to [Meta].'

• An announcement to allow users to encrypt messages comes three days after the company revealed it turned over chats between a Nebraska mother and daughter discussing preparation for the teen daughter's in-house abortion to police officials.

  Despite the possible connection between both incidents, the 'announcement wasn’t connected to the Nebraska case or law enforcement enquiries,' a Facebook representative told DailyMail.com.

    

    

       
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  Meta, the social media giant's parent company, turned over the direct messages as part of an investigation into the Nebraska teen's illegal abortion, court documents show (File photo)