WhatsApp Denies Report that the Platform is Exploring Ads

WhatsApp Denies Report that the Platform is Exploring Ads
TT

WhatsApp Denies Report that the Platform is Exploring Ads

WhatsApp Denies Report that the Platform is Exploring Ads

WhatsApp's top head on Friday denied a Financial Times report that said the Meta Platforms-owned messaging platform was exploring advertisements as it sought to boost revenue.

"This @FT story is false. We aren't doing this," WhatsApp head Will Cathcart said in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The report said that teams at Meta were discussing whether to show ads in lists of conversations with contacts on the WhatsApp chat screen, but no final decisions had been made, citing people familiar with the matter.

FT added that Meta was also deliberating whether to charge a subscription fee to use the app ad-free.
In a statement, WhatsApp told the FT that "we can't account for every conversation someone had in our company but we are not testing this, working on it, and it's not our plan at all."

FT also said many company insiders were against the move.
Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Facebook bought WhatsApp, which has always been a free chat app, in 2014 for $19 billion.
Meta has already been working to boost revenue from WhatsApp. CEO Mark Zuckerberg last year said that WhatsApp and Messenger would drive the company's next wave of sales growth, with business messaging "probably going to be the next major pillar" of Meta's business.
WhatsApp's Business application catered to more than 200 million users on its platform, as of June this year, a four-fold jump from about three years ago.



ITU Selects Saudi Arabia to Host Global Symposium for Regulators in 2025

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
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ITU Selects Saudi Arabia to Host Global Symposium for Regulators in 2025

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) announced that Saudi Arabia, represented by the Communications, Space & Technology Commission (CST), has been selected to host the upcoming Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) 2025 in Riyadh, as part of the symposium’s work in its edition of this year.

Since its inception more than 20 years ago, the symposium is a global event targeting decision and policy makers and regulators around the world.

The event is held annually and organized by the ITU in which it gathers a number of ministers and heads of national bodies regulating the communications and technology sector as well as sector leaders. It focuses on workers in the digital field from 193 countries, and discusses the most prominent challenges and solutions to issues of digital policies and regulations at the international level.

The selection of the Kingdom represented by the CST to host the event reflects the international community’s confidence in Saudi contributions in achieving the goals of the ITU and its pioneering role in the sector.