Scottish Government to cease use of WhatsApp by spring, says Forbes

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Scottish Government ministers and staff will not be able to use informal messaging apps including WhatsApp from next spring, the Deputy First Minister has announced.

The Government had been criticised when it emerged ministers and top civil servants deleted WhatsApp messages which had been requested by the UK-wide Covid-19 Inquiry.

As a result of a review ordered by former first minister Humza Yousaf, the use of mobile messaging apps will come to an end.

On Tuesday, Kate Forbes told MSPs: “One of the key questions asked in the review was around the use of mobile messaging apps such as WhatsApp.

“The report provides a clear recommendation in this regard. We have taken the decision to end the use of mobile messaging applications across the Scottish Government. This will happen by spring 2025.

“Government business should happen on Government systems which are secure, searchable and allow the appropriate sharing of information, in line with our statutory duties.

“Scottish Government ministers and staff will not be permitted to use WhatsApp, or any other non-corporate communications channel, to conduct Government business.

“To give effect to this, non-corporate mobile messaging applications will, by spring, be removed from devices and our technical environment configured so that they cannot be used.”

The Government, she said, would produce “very clear guidelines” on what is permitted to ensure staff follow the new rules.

In late 2023, lead counsel to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry Jamie Dawson KC said most of the messages sent within the Scottish Government had been deleted.

It later transpired a number of senior members of the Government, including John Swinney and Nicola Sturgeon, had deleted messages, though both stressed they did not relate to Government business.

Former national clinical director Jason Leitch was also criticised for describing deleting WhatsApp messages as a “pre-bed ritual” while another senior clinician warned colleagues that messages could be published under freedom-of-information legislation.