WhatsApp gets dumped by Erdogan on mounting privacy concerns

Changes to WhatsApp’s terms and services effective Feb 8 will allow it to share data with parent company Facebook Inc. Users must agree to the new terms or lose access to their accounts at WhatsApp. — WEBSTER2703/Pixabay

The media office of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is quitting WhatsApp Inc, joining a global flight from the popular messaging app over new usage terms that have sparked privacy concerns.

The presidency will move its WhatsApp groups to encrypted messaging app BiP, a unit of Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetler AS, on Jan 11, it said in a message on Jan 9 to the groups. The Defense Ministry followed suit on Jan 10. The switch coincides with Erdogan’s broader campaign against social-media platforms that activists say is meant to stifle dissent.