WhatsApp banned on House of Representative members’ devices – but Signal still allowed, memo shows
WhatsApp banned from phones of House of Representative members
- The US House of Representatives has banned WhatsApp on mobile devices for its members, citing "high risk" due to potential security concerns, lack of data transparency, and absence of stored data encryption.
- A memo from the Office of Cybersecurity outlined the ban and recommended alternative messaging platforms including Microsoft Teams, Amazon Wickr, Apple iMessage, FaceTime, and Signal.
- Meta, WhatsApp's parent company, strongly disagreed with the ban, asserting that WhatsApp provides a higher level of security than other approved applications.
- The ban follows a previous incident, dubbed "Signalgate," where a journalist mistakenly accessed a Signal group chat with high-ranking administration officials, leading to the sharing of sensitive military operations information.
- The "Signalgate" incident resulted in a federal lawsuit against several cabinet members for alleged violation of federal law regarding message preservation, with Trump blaming a "lower level" employee.