Meta ‘concerned' Iran could ban WhatsApp after snooping claims
US tech giant Meta has expressed concern that Iran may block WhatsApp after state media claimed the messaging service is being used for snooping by Israel.
'We're concerned these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most,' Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, said in a statement on Tuesday.
'All of the messages you send to family and friends on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted meaning no-one except the sender and recipient has access to those messages, not even WhatsApp.'
Meta added that it does not track users' precise location or maintain logs of who is messaging whom.
'We do not provide bulk information to any government,' the California-based tech firm said.
'For over a decade, Meta has provided consistent transparency reports that include the limited circumstances when WhatsApp information has been requested.'
Meta's statement came after the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) urged citizens to deactivate or delete their WhatsApp accounts because the 'Zionist regime is using citizens' information to harm us'.
'This is extremely important because they are using the information on your phone, your location and the content you share, which is likely private but still accessible,' an IRNA host said, according to a subtitled clip shared by Iraqi media outlet Rudaw.
'Many of us have friends and relatives living nearby, and some of them could be nuclear scientists or beloved figures, don't forget.'
End-to-end encryption makes it technically impossible for third parties, including tech companies, to access the contents of messages while they are en route from a sender to a recipient.
However, Meta and other tech platforms do collect so-called metadata, such as contacts and device information, which they can share with authorities when requested.
Iran added WhatsApp and Instagram to its list of prohibited apps in September 2022 amid protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, in custody.
Iranian authorities voted to lift the ban two months later as part of reforms to enhance internet freedom promised by President Masoud Pezeshkian.
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Freight intelligence firm Xeneta said average spot rates have increased 55 percent month-over-month, through to last Friday. Who would need to approve the closure? Iran has in the past threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, but has never followed through on the threat. Iran's Supreme National Security Council must make the final decision to close the strait, Iran's Press TV said on Sunday, after parliament was reported to have backed the measure. However, the decision to close the strait is not yet final, as parliament has not ratified a bill to that effect. Instead, a member of parliament's National Security Commission, Esmail Kosari, was quoted in Iranian media as saying: 'For now, [parliament has] come to the conclusion we should close the Strait of Hormuz, but the final decision in this regard is the responsibility of the Supreme National Security Council.' 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Before the start of the second Gulf War, between March and May 2003, crude oil surged by a whopping 46 percent at the end of 2002. But prices quickly unwound in the days preceding the start of the US-led military campaign. Similarly, Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sparked a sharp rally in oil prices to $130 a barrel, but prices returned to their pre-invasion levels of $95 by mid-August. These relatively quick reversals of oil price spikes were largely due to global spare production capacity available at the time, and the fact that the rapid oil price increase curbed demand.
