U.S. House Bans WhatsApp from All Staffers' Devices

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WhatsApp illustration. shutterstock.com

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United States House of Representatives has banned its staff from using WhatsApp on government devices. Axios reported based on an email shared by the House Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), deeming the Meta-owned messaging application as "high-risk."

According to CAO, the Cyber Security Office assessed WhatsApp as a high-risk application due to "lack of transparency in how it protects user data, absence of stored data encryption, and potential security risks."

Therefore, congressional staff are prohibited from downloading or using the mobile, desktop, or browser version of WhatsApp on official government devices. "If you have a WhatsApp application on your House-managed device, you will be contacted to remove it," the email reads, as quoted from The Verge, June 24, 2025.

Meta's Communication Director, Andy Stone, pushed back against the policy. In a statement on platform X, he stated that they disagree "in the strongest possible terms" with the CAO's characterization of WhatsApp.

Stone also added that messages on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted by default, meaning that third parties—even Meta itself—cannot read them. "This is a higher level of security than most of the apps on the CAO’s approved list that do not offer that protection," he said.

According to The Guardian, the CAO also recommended staff use other apps for communications, such as Microsoft Teams, Signal, iMessage, FaceTime, or Wickr, Amazon's messaging service.

In a separate statement to The Verge, CAO Catherine Szpindor emphasized that protecting House data is their top priority. "Protecting the People’s House is our topmost priority, and we are always monitoring and analyzing for potential cybersecurity risks that could endanger the data of House Members and staff," the CAO said. "We routinely review the list of House-authorized apps and will amend the list as deemed appropriate."

WhatsApp is not the only application on the U.S. House's banned list. Previously, the institution had also banned TikTok on government devices and restricted the use of the free version of ChatGPT.

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