Why using WhatsApp threatens the democracy.

Five years ago I decided to switch from WhatsApp to Signal. Today, it is more relvant than ever to stop using WhatsApp and to switch to a responsible alternative. Why?

How could sending texts with WhatsApp harm democracy?

Simply put, for a democracy to work it is important that we have mutual agreements (called laws) and that we stick to them. No one should stand above the law. There are fines for when one violates the law. And for severe violations, offenders may be enprisoned to protect other people.

Some wealthy people however believe that fines are merely a tax. For example for driving a car beyond the speed limit. Fines are not taxes! Paying fines to get away with violating the law means: I don’t care about the rules we made together, I don’t care about society and I don’t care about anyone but myself. Meta, the company behind WhatsApp, violates laws and agreements repeatedly. Year after year. Meta makes so much money with their illegal business that violating laws pays off for them.

Meta seems to stands above the law. They break it over and over and keep doing so. Allowing anyone to stand above the law has severe consequences. Especially when powerful entities such as Meta do this. It erodes the trust of people in the government and it weakens our institutions. It facilitates corruption by contributing to the idea that one can pay to violate the law. And finally it contributes to abuse of power and loss of equality. This can literally cause the collapse of our democracy.

Using WhatsApp signals that you approve that Meta stands above the law. You cannot approve this! You undermine your own future and that of anyone who is dear to you.

But I like the shiny features of WhatsApp!

I fully agree that WhatsApp has some awesome features that no other messaging App has. Personally, I strongly dislike voice messages, but I love reading. So the new transcribe feature I find amazing. Really, if you want to annoy me, send me voice messages on Signal. And there are many many more features that just work great.

When clever and handy features disappear, that is something you notice immediately. And I understand that one might get attached to those features and you don’t want to let go of them. What you most likely will not notice on a daily basis is when democracy is degrading. So it’s very logic that it not tempting to remove WhatsApp.

But would I be willing to swap democracy for features in a messaging App? Uh… no!

But all my contacts are on WhatsApp!

It is very unfortunate that unlike email, where you are free to choose your preferred email provider and still be able to contact anyone, you have to ask your contacts to switch messaging app as well. This was a very smart move from Meta because it locks people in their systems.

Locking people up is not user friendly. Often I hear from WhatsApp users that WhatsApp is very userfriendly. Friends do not lock you up! WhatApp is convenient but very user un-friendly. Do not confuse friendliness with convenience!

If you care about yourself and your friends ask them to remove WhatsApp too. You can both install a more responsible messaging App, or switch to good old text messages (SMS). It is more than normal for people to complain and sigh a bit when you ask them. But if you truly care about them, that shouldn’t stop you. Telling the truth to someone isn’t always fun but it’s always the right thing to do. It’s a thing that friends do for each other. And you can help your friends migrating to another App and remove WhatsApp!