WhatsApp blocked on US House devices amid Meta's political heat
Meta
's popular online messaging application WhatsApp has been banned from all US House of Representatives-issued devices, according to a memo sent to all House staff on Monday.
The notice said the "Office of Cybersecurity has deemed WhatsApp a high risk to users due to the lack of transparency in how it protects user data, absence of stored data encryption, and potential security risks involved with its use."
The memo further advised staff to switch to other messaging platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Apple's iMessage and FaceTime, Amazon's Wickr, or Signal.
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The company disagreed with the move, "We disagree with this decision in the strongest possible terms,' a company spokesperson said, according to Reuters. 'WhatsApp provides one of the highest levels of security available with end-to-end encryption and we believe it is more secure than alternatives that don't provide this level of protection.'
This ban comes at a time when Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg is
facing an internal backlash
over his growing closeness to President Donald Trump and his allies. According to a recent Financial Times report, more than 40 Meta employees have expressed unease with what they see as a sharp political shift by Zuckerberg. His appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast and efforts to build relationships with Trump's inner circle have led some employees to refer to him as 'MAGA Mark'.
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The Zuckerberg-led company
also donated $1 million
to president-elect Donald Trump's inauguration fund.
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In January, WhatsApp confirmed that users on its platform had been
targeted by Israeli spyware firm Paragon Solutions
. Those affected included journalists and civil society members, raising further concerns about user safety. At that time the company said it would "continue to protect peoples' ability to communicate privately."
In 2022, the House also barred TikTok from staff devices, citing risks tied to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
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