2023-06-08 17:10:34
O WhatsApp surprised its users this Thursday (8) by announcing a new feature called “Channels”. This new tool will allow people and companies to send messages to an unlimited number of members, in the same format that Telegram has been offering for some time. An important detail is that the Channels will not have end-to-end encryption.
WhatsApp launches “Channels” to send bulk messages
WhatsApp “Channels” will be accessible in a new dedicated tab called “Updates“, separate from the usual conversations and Communities. In practice, channel administrators will be able to send mass messages, from texts, photos, videos, stickers and polls to their followers.
WhatsApp also plans to launch a channel directory for its users to search and find channels of interest, just as it already works on Telegram. In the future, WhatsApp also intends to offer tools to promote its channels to increase awareness of a business or create integrations with WhatsApp Pay. However, no details have yet been released on how this will work.
No end-to-end encryption
The company stated that as the goal of the channels is to reach a wide audience, they will not be secured with end-to-end encryption by default. This is an important feature of WhatsApp, but it was left out in this new feature. Despite this absence of end-to-end encryption, channel admins will have some controls at their disposal, such as blocking screenshots and message forwards.
It is possible that, in the future, WhatsApp will offer this protection to a limited audience, such as healthcare or non-profit organizations. End-to-end encryption will remain present in all private conversations, including groups, but not in channels, at least initially.
In addition, channel history will be kept on WhatsApp servers for only 30 days, and in the future it will be possible to create self-destructing messages.
Availability
WhatsApp channels will initially launch on Colombia is at Singapore. Other countries will receive this feature in the coming months.
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