Meta Platforms’ (META) popular WhatsApp has been banned from U.S. federal government devices.
The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the U.S. House of Representatives told staffers on June 23 that they are not allowed to use Meta’s popular messaging app.
The CAO cited a lack of transparency and data privacy concerns as reasons for the ban.
House staffers have been told that they are not allowed to download WhatsApp on their government devices or access the app on their smartphones or desktop computers.
Staff members were told to immediately remove WhatsApp from all their devices.
The ban comes with Meta embroiled in an antitrust case with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the social media company’s acquisitions of both WhatsApp and Instagram.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone took to social media to stress that the technology giant strongly disagrees with the ban.
In a post on social media platform X, Stone wrote that WhatsApp is encrypted and offers a “higher level of security than most of the apps on the CAO’s approved list…”
Messaging apps that the CAO said are acceptable alternatives to WhatsApp include Microsoft (MSFT) Teams and Apple’s (AAPL) iMessage.
Recently, Meta Platforms debuted ads on WhatsApp in an effort to monetize the app.
META stock is up 17% this year and trading at $698.53 U.S. per share.
