Scottish politicians faced criticism for using the messaging app during the pandemic.
The Scottish government announced on Tuesday a ban on the use of WhatsApp on official devices. Starting next spring, all “non-corporate messaging apps” will be removed from government phones following a review of their usage policies.
The ban will apply to all messaging apps not intended for official communications, including WhatsApp, Signal, and Facebook Messenger.
The U.K.’s official COVID-19 inquiry sparked heated discussions about politicians’ use of WhatsApp. It uncovered a series of awkward and sometimes crude exchanges, raising concerns about transparency in official record-keeping.
Senior figures, including former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, faced backlash after admitting to deleting a significant number of messages sent via the app during the pandemic.
Those who did not delete their messages had to contend with their publication. Former First Minister Humza Yousaf came under particular scrutiny for some of his pandemic-era texts.
In one exchange with a senior Scottish health official, Yousaf, who was then the health secretary, referred to former Labour MP Neil Findlay as an “asehole” and a “twt.” In another message, he called a prominent Scottish lawyer a “Tory f*ckwit.”
