Iranian state television on Tuesday called on citizens to delete WhatsApp from their smartphones, without providing specific evidence, claiming that the Meta-owned messaging platform was collecting user data to send to Israel.
The broadcast marks the latest move by Tehran to assert greater control over digital communications amid heightened regional tensions and domestic unease.
In response, WhatsApp strongly rejected the accusation.
“We are concerned these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most,” the private messaging company said.
It reiterated that it uses end-to-end encryption, which ensures only the sender and recipient of a message can read its contents.
“We do not track your precise location, we don’t keep logs of who everyone is messaging, and we do not provide bulk information to any government,” WhatsApp added.
Despite this, cybersecurity experts note that WhatsApp does retain some unencrypted metadata, such as timestamps and general usage patterns.
Gregory Falco, an assistant professor of engineering at Cornell University, emphasized that while message contents remain secure, metadata can offer insights into communication behaviours.
“That’s been a consistent issue where people have not been interested in engaging with WhatsApp,” he said.
Falco also highlighted concerns about data sovereignty — where user data is stored and processed. “It’s more than feasible, for instance, that WhatsApp’s data from Iran is not hosted in Iran,” he said.
“Countries need to house their data in-country and process the data in-country with their own algorithms.”
WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta Platforms, also operates Facebook and Instagram — both of which have faced intermittent restrictions in Iran.
Iran has a history of blocking access to major social media platforms, particularly during periods of political unrest.
WhatsApp and Google Play were previously banned in 2022 following nationwide protests over the death of a woman in police custody, though that ban was lifted in late 2024. Many Iranians continue to use the app via VPNs and proxy services.
Until now, WhatsApp had remained one of the most widely used messaging apps in Iran, alongside Instagram and Telegram.
It remains to be seen whether the government's latest directive will translate into widespread compliance or further fuel the country’s growing reliance on encrypted communications and circumvention tools.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev welcomed a Croatian delegation led by Gordan Jandroković, Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, ma...
A new stage of economic transformation is under way in Karakalpakstan, where authorities have announced 27 large-scale projects worth nearly $2 billio...
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University, Richar...
Czech Republic election winner ANO hopes to conclude negotiations with two small parties on forming a new government by the beginning of November, par...
Hamas said on Wednesday (8 October) it had exchanged a list of the names of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners to be released under a swap dea...
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev welcomed a Croatian delegation led by Gordan Jandroković, Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, marking his first official visit to Azerbaijan.
A new stage of economic transformation is under way in Karakalpakstan, where authorities have announced 27 large-scale projects worth nearly $2 billion with an aim to boost growth in the region.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University, Richard Robson of the University of Melbourne, and Omar Yaghi of the University of California.
Four people have been confirmed dead after a six-storey building collapsed in central Madrid while being converted into a hotel, authorities said, following a 15-hour rescue effort involving drones and sniffer dogs.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev welcomed a Croatian delegation led by Gordan Jandroković, Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, marking his first official visit to Azerbaijan.
A new stage of economic transformation is under way in Karakalpakstan, where authorities have announced 27 large-scale projects worth nearly $2 billion with an aim to boost growth in the region.
Hamas said on Wednesday (8 October) it had exchanged a list of the names of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners to be released under a swap deal and that it was optimistic about talks in Egypt on U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza.
Fifteen Turkish activists, who were detained by Israel aboard the Gaza-bound Global Sumud humanitarian aid flotilla, arrived at Istanbul Airport on Tuesday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met on Monday with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said via the country’s social media platform NSosyal.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment