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UPI
2 days ago
- Business
- UPI
Russia says it will restrict calls on WhatsApp and Telegram
The Russian media watchdog announced the country will restrict some calls on WhatsApp, owned by Meta, and Telegram, to fight criminal activity. File Photo by Hayoung Jeon/EPA Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Russia plans to restrict some calls on WhatsApp and Telegram, saying the apps don't cooperate with the government to stop "deceit and fraud." The apps are foreign-owned and encrypted, making it harder for governments to monitor what happens on the platforms. "According to law enforcement agencies' information and numerous reports from citizens, the foreign messengers Telegram and WhatsApp have become the main voice services used for deceit and extortion and involvement of Russian citizens in sabotage and terrorist activities. The repeated demands for countermeasures to be taken have been ignored by the owners of the messengers," the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, or Roskomnadzor, said on Wednesday in a statement, which was provided by the Russian News Agency, Interfax. "The fight against criminals' calls is being conducted consistently," Roskomnadzor said. WhatsApp, owned by Meta, replied on X: "WhatsApp is private, end-to-end encrypted, and defies government attempts to violate people's right to secure communication, which is why Russia is trying to block it from over 100 million Russian people. We will keep doing all we can to make end-to-end encrypted communication available to people everywhere, including in Russia." "We're deeply concerned that blocking WhatsApp aims to take away the right to private and secure communication and push people in Russia onto less secure services to enable government surveillance," Meta said. In 2018, Russia tried to block Telegram after the app wouldn't grant Russian security services access to users' messages, but it didn't work. The app's founder and CEO Pavel Durov refused. In Russia it's nearly impossible to access the full internet without using a Virtual Private Network, but about half of people there don't know how to use one.
UPI
16-06-2025
- Business
- UPI
Meta-owned WhatsApp starts in-app ads for first time
1 of 2 | On Monday, billions of WhatsApp users around the world will see business ads in its "updates" tab as parent comapny Meta begins to monetize the WhatsApp "channels" feature with paid subscriptions and search advertising. File Photo by Hayoung Jeon/EPA-EFE June 16 (UPI) -- The messaging service WhatsApp on Monday will begin to display ads for the first time as parent company Meta seeks to make business changes to the encrypted global platform. Billions of international users of the popular messaging app will see business ads in its "updates" tab as Meta begins to monetize the WhatsApp "channels" feature with paid subscriptions and search advertising. In addition, business will have the option to run "status ads" that prompt a WhatsApp user to interact with advertisers on messenger. Officials say, however, that WhatsApp will only collect limited private data used to target ads. "Your personal messages, calls and statuses, they will remain end-to-end encrypted," Nikila Srinivasan, Meta and WhatsApp's VP of product management, told The New York Times. There are no current plans for ads to be in private chats. Meta, the global social media giant at one time known as Facebook when it purchased WhatsApp in a 2014 deal for some $19 billion, now permits advertisers to run click-to-message ads to WhatsApp via its branded subsidiary companies Instagram and Facebook. WhatsApp has more than 3 billion monthly users, with more more than 100 million just in the United States and "growing quickly from there,' according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In April, Zuckerberg said its ability for users to contact businesses "should be the next pillar" of WhatsApp's business model. But according to a company official, WhatsApp will use "very basic information" -- such as a user's home country, city, language, smart phone device or select data -- in order to pick what ads to show, but ads might cost less to place on WhatsApp versus Facebook or Instagram. In 2024, nearly all of Meta's $164 billion revenue arrived from advertising and it holds about a 15% share of digital business advertising globally. The advertising business for Meta-owned companies is "in as strong a position now as it's ever been," Brian Wieser, a financial analyst and founder of consulting firm Madison and Wall, told the Times.
