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Original author(s)	Brian Acton, Jan Koum
Developer(s)	WhatsApp Inc. (Facebook, Inc.)
Initial release	February&#;; 11&#;years ago&#;()
Stable release(s)[±]
iOS / December&#;16, ; 30&#;days ago&#;()[1] Android / December&#;10, ; 36&#;days ago&#;()[2] Windows / December&#;16, ; 30&#;days ago&#;()[3]
Preview release(s)[±]
Android (Beta) / December&#;16, ; 30&#;days ago&#;()[4]
Written in	Erlang[5]
Operating system	Android, iOS, KaiOS (there are Mac OS, Windows and web app clients that work only when connected to the mobile app client)
Size	MB (iOS)[6] MB (Android)[7]
Available in	40 (iOS) and 60 (Android)[8] languages
Type	Instant messaging, VoIP
License	Proprietary software with EULA("European Region", others)
Website	tallerembajador.com.mx

WhatsApp Messenger, or simply WhatsApp, is an American freeware, cross-platformmessaging and Voice over IP (VoIP) service owned by Facebook, Inc.^[47] It allows users to send text messages and voice messages,^[48] make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other media.^[49][50] WhatsApp's client application runs on mobile devices but is also accessible from desktop computers, as long as the user's mobile device remains connected to the Internet while they use the desktop app.^[51] The service requires users to provide a standard cellularmobile number for registering with the service.^[52] In January , WhatsApp released a standalone business app targeted at small business owners, called WhatsApp Business, to allow companies to communicate with customers who use the standard WhatsApp client.^[53][54]

The client application was created by WhatsApp Inc. of Mountain View, California, which was acquired by Facebook in February for approximately US$&#;billion.^[55][56] It became the world's most popular messaging application by ,^[57][58] and has over 2&#;billion users worldwide as of February&#;^[update].^[59] It has become the primary means of electronic communication in multiple countries and locations, including Latin America, the Indian subcontinent, and large parts of Europe and Africa.^[57]

History[edit]

–[edit]

WhatsApp was founded in by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, former employees of Yahoo!.

In January , after purchasing an iPhone and realizing the potential of the app industry on the App Store, Koum and Acton began visiting Koum's friend Alex Fishman in West San Jose to discuss a new type of messaging app that would "show statuses next to individual names of the people".^{[citation needed]} They realized that to take the idea further, they would need an iPhone developer. Fishman visited tallerembajador.com.mx, found Russian developer Igor Solomennikov, and introduced him to Koum.

Koum named the app WhatsApp to sound like "what's up". On February 24, , he incorporated^[9] WhatsApp Inc. in California. However, when early versions of WhatsApp kept crashing, Koum considered giving up and looking for a new job. Acton encouraged him to wait for a "few more months".^[60]

In June , Apple launched push notifications, allowing users to be pinged when they were not using an app. Koum changed WhatsApp so that everyone in the user's network would be notified when a user's status is changed.^[14] WhatsApp was released with a messaging component and the number of active users suddenly increased to , Although Acton was working on another startup idea, he decided to join the company.^[14] In October , Acton persuaded five former friends at Yahoo! to invest $, in seed funding, and Acton became a co-founder and was given a stake. He officially joined WhatsApp on November 1.^[14] After months at beta stage, the application launched in November , exclusively on the App Store for the iPhone. Koum then hired a friend in Los Angeles, Chris Peiffer, to develop a BlackBerry version, which arrived two months later.^[14] In , WhatsApp was subject to multiple acquisition offers from Google which were declined.^[61]

To cover the cost of sending verification texts to users, WhatsApp was changed from a free service to a paid one. In December , the ability to send photos was added to the iOS version. By early , WhatsApp was one of the top 20 apps in Apple's U.S. App Store.^[14]

In April , Sequoia Capital invested about $8 million for more than 15% of the company, after months of negotiation by Sequoia partner Jim Goetz.^[62][63][64]

By February , WhatsApp had about million active users and 50 staff members. Sequoia invested another $50 million, and WhatsApp was valued at $ billion.^[14]

In a December blog post, WhatsApp claimed that million active users used the service each month.^[65]

Facebook subsidiary (–present)[edit]

On February 19, , just one year after a venture capital financing round at a $&#;billion valuation,^[66]Facebook, Inc. announced it was acquiring WhatsApp for US$19&#;billion, its largest acquisition to date.^[56] At the time, it was the largest acquisition of a venture-backed company in history.^[55] Sequoia Capital received an approximate % return on its initial investment.^[67] Facebook, which was advised by Allen & Co, paid $4&#;billion in cash, $12&#;billion in Facebook shares, and (advised by Morgan Stanley) an additional $3&#;billion in restricted stock units granted to WhatsApp's founders Koum and Acton.^[68] Employee stock was scheduled to vest over four years subsequent to closing.^[56] Days after the announcement, WhatsApp users experienced a loss of service, leading to anger across social media.^[69]

The acquisition caused a considerable number of users to try and/or move to other message services. Telegram claimed that it acquired 8&#;million new users;^[70] and Line, 2&#;million.^[71]

At a keynote presentation at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February , Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp was closely related to the tallerembajador.com.mx vision.^[72][73] A TechCrunch article said this about Zuckerberg's vision:

The idea, he said, is to develop a group of basic internet services that would be free of charge to use – 'a for the internet.' These could be a social networking service like Facebook, a messaging service, maybe search and other things like weather. Providing a bundle of these free of charge to users will work like a gateway drug of sorts – users who may be able to afford data services and phones these days just don't see the point of why they would pay for those data services. This would give them some context for why they are important, and that will lead them to pay for more services like this – or so the hope goes.^[72]

Just three days after announcing the Facebook purchase, Koum said they were working to introduce voice calls. He also said that new mobile phones would be sold in Germany with the WhatsApp brand and that their ultimate goal was to be on all smartphones.^[74]

In August , WhatsApp was the most globally popular messaging app, with more than &#;million users.^[75] By early January , WhatsApp had &#;million monthly users and over 30&#;billion messages every day.^[76] In April , Forbes predicted that between and , the telecommunications industry would lose $&#;billion because of OTT services like WhatsApp and Skype.^[77] That month, WhatsApp had over &#;million users.^[78][79] By September , it had grown to &#;million;^[80] and by February , one billion.^[81]

Voice calls between two accounts were added to the app in March and April ^[82]

On November 30, , the Android WhatsApp client made links to another message service, Telegram, unclickable and uncopyable.^[83][84][85] Multiple sources confirmed that it was intentional, not a bug,^[85] and that it had been implemented when the Android source code that recognized Telegram URLs had been identified.^[85] (The word "telegram" appeared in WhatsApp's code.^[85]) Some considered it an anti-competitive measure,^[83][84][85] but WhatsApp offered no explanation.

Recent (–present)[edit]

On January 18, , WhatsApp's co-founder Jan Koum announced that it would no longer charge users a $1 annual subscription fee, in an effort to remove a barrier faced by users without credit cards.^[86][87] He also said that the app would not display any third-party ads, and that it would have new features such as the ability to communicate with businesses.^[81][88]

By June , the company's blog reported more than &#;million voice calls per day were being placed on WhatsApp.^[89]

On November 10, , WhatsApp launched a beta version of two-step verification for Android users, which allowed them to use their email addresses for further protection.^[90] Also in November , Facebook ceased collecting WhatsApp data for advertising in Europe.^[91] Later that month, video calls between two accounts were introduced.^[92]

On February 24, , (WhatsApp's 8th birthday), WhatsApp launched a new Status feature similar to Snapchat and Facebook stories.^[93]

On May 18, , it was reported that the European Commission would fine Facebook €&#;million for "misleading" it during the takeover of WhatsApp. The Commission alleged that in when Facebook acquired the messaging app, it "falsely claimed it was technically impossible to automatically combine user information from Facebook and WhatsApp." However, in the summer of , WhatsApp had begun sharing user information with its parent company, allowing information such as phone numbers to be used for targeted Facebook advertisements. Facebook acknowledged the breach, but said the errors in their filings were "not intentional".^[91]

In September , WhatsApp's co-founder Brian Acton left the company to start a nonprofit group,^[94] later revealed as the Signal Foundation, which now develops the WhatsApp competitor Signal.^[95] WhatsApp also announced a forthcoming business platform to enable companies to provide customer service at scale,^[96] and airlines KLM and Aeroméxico announced their participation in the testing.^{[97][98][99][]} Both airlines previously launched customer services on the Facebook Messenger platform.

In January , WhatsApp launched WhatsApp Business for small business use.^[]

In April , WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum announced he would be leaving the company.^[] Facebook later announced that Koum's replacement would be Chris Daniels.^[12]

Later in September , WhatsApp introduced group audio and video call features.^[][] In October, the "Swipe to Reply" option was added to the Android beta version, 16 months after it was introduced for iOS.^[]

On October 25, , WhatsApp announced support for Stickers. But unlike other platforms WhatsApp requires third party apps to add Stickers to WhatsApp.^[]

On November 25, , WhatsApp announced an investment of $, into the startup ecosystem through a partnership with Startup India, where it will provide startups with Facebook ad credits of $ each.^[]

In December , WhatsApp announced that a new update would lock out any Apple users who haven't updated to iOS 9 or higher and Samsung, Huawei, Sony and Google users who haven't updated to version by February 1, The company also reported that Windows Phone operating systems would no longer be supported after December 31, ^[] WhatsApp was announced to be the 3rd most downloaded mobile app of the decade from to ^[]

In early , WhatsApp launched its "dark mode" for iPhone and Android devices – a new design consisting of a darker palette.^[] In March, WhatsApp partnered with the World Health Organization and UNICEF to provide messaging hotlines for people to get information on the coronavirus pandemic.^[] That same month, WhatsApp began testing a feature to help users find out more information and context about information they receive.^[]

In October , Whatsapp rolled out a feature that allow users to mute both individuals and group chats forever. The mute chat settings now show ‘8 hours', ‘1 week', and ‘Always' options. The ‘Always' option replaces the ‘1 year' option that was originally part of the settings.^[] This new feature is present on both iOS and Android devices, as well as on WhatsApp web.^[]

In January , WhatsApp announced a new Privacy Policy which users will be forced to accept by February 8, , or stop using the app. The new policy will allow WhatsApp to share data with its parent, Facebook. The new policy does not apply in EU, since it violates the principles of GDPR.^[][]

lawsuit[edit]

In May , WhatsApp was attacked by hackers who installed spyware on a number of victims' smartphones.^[] The hack, allegedly developed by Israeli surveillance technology firm NSO Group, injected malware onto WhatsApp users’ phones via a remote-exploit bug in the app's Voice over IP calling functions. A Wired report noted the attack was able to inject malware via calls to the targeted phone, even if the user did not answer the call.^[] On October 29, WhatsApp filed a lawsuit against NSO Group in a San Francisco court, claiming that the alleged cyberattack violated US laws including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).^[] According to WhatsApp, the exploit "targeted at least human-rights defenders, journalists and other members of civil society" among a total of 1, users in 20 countries.^[][][11]

Platform support[edit]

After months at beta stage, the official first release of WhatsApp launched in November , exclusively at the App Store for iPhone. In January , support for BlackBerry smartphones was added; and subsequently for Symbian OS in May , and for Android OS in August In August , a beta for Nokia's non-smartphone OS Series 40 was added. A month later, support for Windows Phone was added, followed by BlackBerry 10 in March ^[] In April , support for Samsung's Tizen OS was added.^[] The oldest device capable of running WhatsApp was the Symbian-based Nokia N95 released in March (As of June , WhatsApp is no longer compatible with it.)

In August , WhatsApp released an Android update, adding support for Android Wear smartwatches.^[]

On January 21, , WhatsApp launched WhatsApp Web, a browser-based web client that could be used by syncing with a mobile device's connection.^[]

On February 26, , WhatsApp announced they would cease support for BlackBerry (including BlackBerry 10), Series 40, and Symbian S60, as well as older versions of Android (), Windows Phone (), and iOS (6), by the end of ^[] BlackBerry, Series 40, and Symbian support was then extended to June 30, ^[] In June , support for BlackBerry and Series 40 was once again extended until the end of , while Symbian was dropped.^[]

Support for BlackBerry and older (version ) Windows Phone and older (version 6) iOS devices was dropped on January 1, , but was extended to December for Nokia Series ^[] In July , it was announced that WhatsApp would soon be available for KaiOS feature phones.^[][]

In October , WhatsApp officially launched a new fingerprint app-locking feature for Android users.^[]

WhatsApp Web[edit]

WhatsApp was officially made available for PCs through a web client, under the name WhatsApp Web,^[] in late January through an announcement made by Koum on his Facebook page: "Our web client is simply an extension of your phone: the web browser mirrors conversations and messages from your mobile device—this means all of your messages still live on your phone". The WhatsApp user's handset must still be connected to the Internet for the browser application to function. All major desktop browsers are supported except for Internet Explorer. WhatsApp Web's user interface is based on the default Android one and can be accessed through tallerembajador.com.mx Access is granted after the users scan their personal QR code through their mobile WhatsApp application.

As of January 21, , the desktop version was only available to Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone users. Later on, it also added support for iOS, Nokia Series 40, and Nokia S60 (Symbian).^[][]

There are similar solutions for macOS, such as the open-source ChitChat.^[][][]

Microsoft Windows and Mac[edit]

On May 10, , the messaging service was introduced for both Microsoft Windows and macOS operating systems. WhatsApp currently does not allow audio or video calling from desktop operating systems. Similar to the WhatsApp Web format, the app, which will be synced with a user's mobile device, is available for download on the website. It supports OS versions of Windows 8 and OS X and higher.^[][][]

Apple iPad[edit]

A story circulated in that iPad support was coming.^[]

However, as of December , WhatsApp does not run on the Apple iPad. From the WhatsApp iOS page (accessed March ): "WhatsApp is a telephony app, so iPod and iPad are not supported devices."^[]

iPad users searching for WhatsApp are shown numerous third-party clients. Several top results have names and logos resembling WhatsApp itself, and some users do not realize they are using a third-party client. Unfortunately, using third-party clients runs the risk to the user of their phone number being permanently banned.^[]

Technical[edit]

WhatsApp uses a customized version of the open standard Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP).^[] Upon installation, it creates a user account using one's phone number as the username (Jabber ID: ).

WhatsApp software automatically compares all the phone numbers from the device's address book with its central database of WhatsApp users to automatically add contacts to the user's WhatsApp contact list. Previously the Android and Nokia Series 40 versions used an MD5-hashed, reversed-version of the phone's IMEI as password,^[] while the iOS version used the phone's Wi-Fi MAC address instead of IMEI.^[][] A update now generates a random password on the server side.^[]

Some Dual SIM devices may not be compatible with WhatsApp, though there are some workarounds for this.^[]

In February , WhatsApp introduced a voice calling feature; this helped WhatsApp to attract a completely different segment of the user population.^[][] WhatsApp's voice codec is Opus,^[][][] which uses the modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) and linear predictive coding (LPC) audio compression algorithms.^[] WhatsApp uses Opus at 8–16 kHzsampling rates.^[][] On November 14, , Whatsapp added a video calling feature for users across Android, iPhone, and Windows Phone devices.^[][]

In November , Whatsapp released a new feature that would let its users delete messages sent by mistake within a time frame of 7 minutes.^[]

Multimedia messages are sent by uploading the image, audio or video to be sent to an HTTP server and then sending a link to the content along with its Base64 encoded thumbnail (if applicable).^[]

WhatsApp follows a "store and forward" mechanism for exchanging messages between two users. When a user sends a message, it first travels to the WhatsApp server where it is stored. Then the server repeatedly requests the receiver to acknowledge receipt of the message. As soon as the message is acknowledged, the server drops the message; it is no longer available in the database of the server. The WhatsApp server keeps the message only for 30 days in its database when it is not delivered (when the receiver is not active on WhatsApp for 30 days).^{[][self-published source?]}

End-to-end encryption[edit]

On November 18, , Open Whisper Systems announced a partnership with WhatsApp to provide end-to-end encryption by incorporating the encryption protocol used in Signal into each WhatsApp client platform.^[] Open Whisper Systems said that they had already incorporated the protocol into the latest WhatsApp client for Android, and that support for other clients, group/media messages, and key verification would be coming soon after.^[] WhatsApp confirmed the partnership to reporters, but there was no announcement or documentation about the encryption feature on the official website, and further requests for comment were declined.^[] In April , German magazine Heise Security used ARP spoofing to confirm that the protocol had been implemented for Android-to-Android messages, and that WhatsApp messages from or to iPhones running iOS were still not end-to-end encrypted.^[] They expressed the concern that regular WhatsApp users still could not tell the difference between end-to-end encrypted messages and regular messages.^[]

On April 5, , WhatsApp and Open Whisper Systems announced that they had finished adding end-to-end encryption to "every form of communication" on WhatsApp, and that users could now verify each other's keys.^[41][] Users were also given the option to enable a trust on first use mechanism in order to be notified if a correspondent's key changes.^[] According to a white paper that was released along with the announcement, WhatsApp messages are encrypted with the Signal Protocol.^[] WhatsApp calls are encrypted with SRTP, and all client-server communications are "layered within a separate encrypted channel".^[] The Signal Protocol library used by WhatsApp is open-source and published under the GPLv3 license.^[][]

Cade Metz, writing in Wired, said, "WhatsApp, more than any company before it, has taken encryption to the masses."^[47]

WhatsApp Payments[edit]

WhatsApp Payments (marketed as WhatsApp Pay) is a peer-to-peer money transfer feature that is currently only available in India. WhatsApp has received permission from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to enter into partnership with multiple banks in July ^[] to allow users to make in-app payments and money transfers using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).^[] UPI enables account-to-account transfers from a mobile app without having any details of the beneficiary's bank.^[] On 6 November , Whatsapp announced that it had received approval for providing a payment service, although restricted to maximum of 20 million users initially. The service was subsequently rolled out.^[]

WhatsApp Cryptocurrency[edit]

On February 28, , The New York Times reported that Facebook was “hoping to succeed where Bitcoin failed” by developing an in-house cryptocurrency that would be incorporated into WhatsApp. The project reportedly involves over 50 engineers under the direction of former PayPal president David Marcus. This 'Facebook coin' will reportedly be a stablecoin pegged to the value of a basket of different foreign currencies.^[]

Click to chat[edit]

You can directly start a WhatsApp conversation without having the phone number in your address book by opening a special link containing the phone number.^[]

Reception and criticism[edit]

Hoaxes and fake news[edit]

Mob murders in India[edit]

In July , WhatsApp encouraged people to report fraudulent or inciting messages after lynch mobs in India murdered innocent people because of malicious WhatsApp messages falsely accusing the victims of intending to abduct children.^[]

elections in Brazil[edit]

In an investigation on the use of social media in politics, it was found that WhatsApp was being abused for the spread of fake news in the presidential elections in Brazil.^[] Furthermore, it has been reported that US$3&#;million has been spent in illegal off-the-books contributions related to this practice.^[]

Researchers and journalists have called on WhatsApp parent company, Facebook, to adopt measures similar to those adopted in India and restrict the spread of hoaxes and fake news.^[]

Security and privacy[edit]

WhatsApp was initially criticized for its lack of encryption, sending information as plaintext.^[] Encryption was first added in May ^[][][] End-to-end encryption was only fully implemented in April after a two-year process.

In , WhatsApp was widely praised for the addition of end-to-end encryption and earned a 6 out of 7 points on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's "Secure Messaging Scorecard".^[] WhatsApp was criticized by security researchers and the Electronic Frontier Foundation for using backups that are not covered by end-to-end encryption and allow messages to be accessed by third-parties.^[][]

In May , a security vulnerability in WhatsApp was found and fixed that allowed a remote person to install spyware by making a call which did not need to be answered.^[][]

In September , WhatsApp was criticized for its implementation of a 'delete for everyone' feature. iOS users can elect to save media to their camera roll automatically. When a user deletes media for everyone, WhatsApp does not delete images saved in the iOS camera roll and so those users are able to keep the images. WhatsApp released a statement saying that "the feature is working properly," and that images stored in the camera roll cannot be deleted due to Apple's security layers.^[]

In December , WhatsApp confirmed a security flaw that would allow hackers to use a malicious GIF image file to gain access to the recipient's data. When the recipient opened the gallery within WhatsApp, even if not sending the malicious image, the hack is triggered and the device and its contents become vulnerable. The flaw was patched and users were encouraged to update WhatsApp.^[][][]

In November , WhatsApp released a new privacy feature that let users decide who adds them to the group.^[]

On December 17, , WhatsApp fixed a security flaw that allowed cyber attackers to repeatedly crash the messaging application for all members of group chat, which could only be fixed by forcing the complete uninstall and reinstall of the app.^[] The bug was discovered by Check Point in August and reported to WhatsApp. It was fixed in version onwards.^[][]

For security purposes, since February 1, , WhatsApp has been made unavailable on smartphones using legacy operating systems like Android or older and iPhone iOS 8 or older that are no longer updated by their providers.^[]

In April , the NSO Group held its governmental clients accountable for the allegation of human rights abuses by WhatsApp. In its revelation via documents received from court, the group claimed that the lawsuit brought against the company by WhatsApp threatened to infringe on its clients’ “national security and foreign policy concerns”. However, the company did not reveal names of the end users, which according to a research by Citizen Lab include, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates.^[]

On 16 December , a claim that WhatsApp gave Google access to private messages was included in the anti-trust case against the latter. As the complaint is heavily redacted due to being an ongoing case, it doesn't disclose whether this alleges tampering with the app's end-to-end encryption or simply Google accessing user backups.^[]

In January , WhatsApp announced update to Privacy Policy which states that WhatsApp will share user data with Facebook and its "family of companies" starting February Previously, users could opt-out of such data sharing, but the new policy removes this option. The new Privacy Policy does not apply within EU, since it is illegal under GDPR.^[][][]

NHS

In , it was reported that around , National Health Service (NHS) staff used WhatsApp and other instant messaging systems at work and around 29, had faced disciplinary action for doing so. Higher usage was reported by frontline clinical staff to keep up with care needs, even though NHS trust policies do not permit their use.^[]

Mods and fake versions

In March , WhatsApp released a guide for users who had installed unofficial modified versions of WhatsApp and warned against data loss in case users persisted using the same as it considered banning such users.^[]

NSO Group

In October , WhatsApp launched an unprecedented lawsuit against the Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group, accusing that it was behind the highly sophisticated cyber attacks on over human rights activists, journalists, lawyers, and academics. WhatsApp also claimed that the firm violated American law in an “unmistakable pattern of abuse”.^[] On July 16, , a US federal judge ruled that WhatsApp and its parent company Facebook's lawsuit against NSO group can proceed. The judge denied most of the arguments made by the NSO group.^[]

Jeff Bezos Phone Hack

In January , a digital forensic analysis revealed that the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos received an encrypted message on WhatsApp from the official account of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The message reportedly contained a malicious file, the receipt of which resulted in Bezos’ phone being hacked. The United Nations’ special rapporteur David Kaye and Agnes Callamard later confirmed that Jeff Bezos’ phone was hacked through WhatsApp, as he was one of the targets of Saudi's hit list of individuals close to The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.^[]

Terrorism[edit]

In December , it was reported that Islamic State terrorists had been using WhatsApp to plot the November Paris attacks.^[] According to The Independent, ISIS also uses WhatsApp to traffic sex slaves.^[]

In March , British Home Secretary Amber Rudd said encryption capabilities of messaging tools like WhatsApp are unacceptable, as news reported that Khalid Masood used the application several minutes before perpetrating the Westminster attack. Rudd publicly called for police and intelligence agencies to be given access to WhatsApp and other encrypted messaging services to prevent future terror attacks.^[]

In April , the perpetrator of the Stockholm truck attack reportedly used WhatsApp to exchange messages with an ISIS supporter shortly before and after the incident. The messages involved discussing how to make an explosive device and a confession to the attack.^[]

In April , nearly WhatsApp groups with about members each were reportedly being used to mobilize stone-pelters in Jammu and Kashmir to disrupt security forces' operations at encounter sites. According to police, 90% of these groups were closed down after counselling of admins of these groups.^[] Further, after a six-month probe which involved the infiltration of 79 WhatsApp groups, the National Investigation Agency reported that out of about members and admins of these groups, about were residents of Pakistan and gulf nations. Further, for their help in negating anti-terror operations, the Indian stone pelters were getting funded through barter trade from Pakistan and other indirect means.^[]

Scams and malware[edit]

It has been asserted that WhatsApp is plagued by scams that invite hackers to spread malicious viruses or malware.^[][] In May , some WhatsApp users were reported to have been tricked into downloading a third-party application called WhatsApp Gold, which was part of a scam that infected the users' phones with malware.^[] A message that promises to allow access to their WhatsApp friends' conversations, or their contact lists, has become the most popular hit against anyone who uses the application in Brazil. Since December , more than &#;million people have clicked and lost money.^[]

Another application called GB Whatsapp is considered malicious by cybersecurity firm Symantec because it usually performs some unauthorized operations on end-user devices.^[]

Bans[edit]

China[edit]

WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, whose main social media service has been blocked in China since ^[] In September , security researchers reported to The New York Times that the WhatsApp service had been completely blocked in China.^[][]

According to Time, Sarsenbek Akaruli, 45, a veterinarian and trader from Ili, Xinjiang, was arrested in Xinjiang on November 2, As of November , he is still in a detention camp. According to his wife Gulnur Kosdaulet, Akaruli was put in the camp after police found WhatsApp's banned messaging app on his cell phone. Kosdaulet, a citizen of neighboring Kazakhstan, has traveled to Xinjiang on four occasions to search for her husband but could not get help from friends in the Communist Party of China. Kosdaulet said of her friends, "Nobody wanted to risk being recorded on security cameras talking to me in case they ended up in the camps themselves."^[]

Iran[edit]

On May 9, , the government of Iran announced that it had proposed to block the access to WhatsApp service to Iranian residents. "The reason for this is the assumption of WhatsApp by the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is an American Zionist," said Abdolsamad Khorramabadi, head of the country's Committee on Internet Crimes. Subsequently, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani issued an order to the Ministry of ICT to stop filtering WhatsApp.^[][]

Turkey[edit]

Turkey temporarily banned WhatsApp in , following the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey.^[]

Brazil[