WhatsApp will have “channels” that allow companies to communicate publicly with large numbers of subscribers, a significant development for messaging that has so far been known for protecting the privacy of its users’ conversations.
“We’re excited to introduce WhatsApp Channels, a simple, reliable, and private way to get important messages from people and organizations on our platform,” subsidiary Meta (Facebook, Instagram) announced in an online press release on Thursday .
This new feature will first be tested in Singapore and Colombia before rolling out to other countries.
Users can find the channels that interest them separately from the discussions with their contacts and groups in a separate tab called What’s New.
Channel admins cannot add subscribers. They communicate “one-way” by sending messages, photos, videos, stickers, and polls.
Meta said that partner organizations will include the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and football teams FC Barcelona and Manchester United.
This new service should allow the Californian group to relaunch extremely popular news in certain regions of the world (particularly Africa and Latin America), but much less so in the United States.
The social media giant has had a difficult year in 2022, including the first drop in its ad revenue since its IPO in 2012.
The channels will allow him to offer brands a new way of communicating with consumers.
For security and privacy reasons, subscribers do not see the phone numbers of other people in the audience and their channel selections remain private. Posted content will disappear after 30 days.
“WhatsApp Channels will aim to become the most secure public messaging feature available while continuing to provide the level of privacy that app users have come to expect,” the company said.
But “as the channels aim to reach large audiences,” they won’t be encrypted by default like private conversations are, she added.
Meta nevertheless plans to offer end-to-end encryption of chains in certain cases, for example for non-profit or health organizations.
This type of encryption guarantees that the messages can only be read by the sender and recipient, much to the regret of authorities in many countries.
WhatsApp, which was acquired by Facebook in 2014, has built its reputation on this operation, as have rival messengers Signal and Telegram.