The US government has ordered a ban on WhatsApp from all official devices, citing serious concerns over transparency and data protection. In a surprising move on 23 June 2025, White House employees were instructed via an internal memo to stop using the Meta-owned messaging app with immediate effect.

Approved products in the US House of Representatives include Microsoft Teams, Signal, Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime, and Amazon-owned messaging service Wickr. Meta said WhatsApp, which has about 3bn users globally, is approved for official use in the Senate.

Meta’s messaging platform joins growing list of restricted applications as officials cite data transparency issues