Turkey: Erdogan’s Media Team Announces To Stop Using WhatsApp

Following the new privacy policy by WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging application, the media office of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that it would stop using WhatsApp.

According to the international media reports, after the explanatory statements released by WhatsApp yesterday, the Turkish presidential office said that its media office will give a briefing to journalists through BIP app on Monday (today, January 11), which is a unit of Turkcell, a Turkish communication company.

WhatsApp’s new privacy policy, introduced last week, is being challenged by users in Turkey using the hashtag Deleting WhatsApp on Twitter.

Turkish state media quoted Turkcell as saying that in just 24 hours, the number of BIP subscribers increased by 1.12 million while it has 53 million subscribers worldwide.

Ali Taha, head of the Turkish President’s Office for Digital Transformation, criticized WhatsApp’s new rules and policy two days ago, saying users in the UK and the EU were exempt from the new data-sharing rules.

He asked Turkish citizens to use ‘national and local’ apps such as BIP and Didi.

Ali Taha had said in a tweet that the distinction between EU countries and other countries in terms of data privacy is unacceptable.

“As we have made clear in the Information and Communication Security Guidelines, there are significant data security threats in foreign apps,” he said.

“That’s why we need to secure our digital data with local and national software and develop it to suit our needs,” Ali Taha said.

He also said that due to the availability of local and national solutions, Turkey’s data will remain in Turkey.

Keep in mind that WhatsApp’s new privacy policy is being heavily criticized by users.

Under the policy, Facebook and its affiliates will have access to WhatsApp user data, while the user’s account will be deleted if the privacy policy is not accepted, effective February 8.

WhatsApp’s new policy has led to an increase in download rates for alternative messaging apps, including Telegram and Signal.

WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart has tried to explain that users will not be affected by the new policy.

“With end-to-end encryption, we cannot see your private chats or calls and neither can Facebook. We’re committed to this technology and committed to defending it globally,” he said.

He tweeted a link to WhatsApp security where it was explained in detail.

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With end-to-end encryption, we cannot see your private chats or calls and neither can Facebook. We’re committed to this technology and committed to defending it globally. You can read more here: https://t.co/YpR5RaGoW1

— Will Cathcart (@wcathcart) January 8, 2021