In mid-2013, WhatsApp Inc. filed for the DMCA takedown of the discussion thread on the XDA Developers forums about the then popular third-party client “WhatsApp Plus”. The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has prohibited local banks from using instant messaging applications like WhatsApp for customer communication. The army recommended that all army personnel use Threema instead, as the service is based in Switzerland. In December 2021, the Swiss army banned the use of WhatsApp adrians casino and several other non-Swiss encrypted messaging services by army personnel. On March 2, 2016, at dawn the next day, Dzodan was released because the Court of Appeal held that the arrest was disproportionate and unreasonable.
In December 2015, it was reported that terrorist organization ISIS had been using WhatsApp to plot the November 2015 Paris attacks. The message reportedly contained a malicious file, the receipt of which resulted in Bezos’ phone being hacked. In October 2019, WhatsApp filed a lawsuit against NSO Group in a San Francisco court, claiming that the alleged cyberattack violated US laws including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Higher usage was reported by frontline clinical staff to keep up with care needs, even though NHS trust policies do not permit their use.
In November 2023, WhatsApp also began rolling out support for sending login codes to a linked email address, rather than via SMS. In October 2023 they also introduced passkey support, where a user can verify their login with on-device biometrics, rather than SMS. In July 2017, WhatsApp added support for file uploads of all file types, with a limit of 100 MB. In March 2012, WhatsApp improved its location-sharing function, allowing users to share not only their location, but also the location of places, such as restaurants or hotels. Visual effects also became available, adding visual filters to a user’s video feed.