- Elon Musk tweeted ‘WhatsApp cannot be trusted’ on Tuesday
- Another user said the app activated the microphone in the background
The criticism stems from another user’s claim that the Meta-owned app activated their device’s microphone at least every two minutes in the background.
A screenshot shared by Foad Dabiri shows a timeline of nine incidents, starting at 4:20 am to 6:53 am – hours while he was asleep.
The issue is not limited to Dabiri, as many WhatsApp users have reported seeing the microphone on over the past several months.
Elon Musk slammed WhatsApp for being ‘untrustworthy’ after a user claimed the app was listening in the background
WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app, with around two billion active users worldwide.
Facebook purchased WhatsApp in 2014 with a bid of $16 billion.
Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg have been vocal about their distaste for each other.
In 2022, the Twitter CEO accused Zuckerberg of exercising too much control over public debates, describing him as ‘Zuckerberg the 14th’ in a mocking reference to the Sun King.
And this year, Zuckerberg’s Meta announced it was taking on Twitter with a new similar app set to be released soon.
It seems Musk will take any opportunity to jab at the Meta CEO and did so by sharing a screenshot of WhatsApp ‘listening’ in the background.
Musk’s tweet has since gone viral, with thousands of comments.
Gannon Breslin replied: ‘It’s incredible how many people don’t realize that WhatsApp is owned by Meta / Facebook.’
Musk commented: ‘Yeah. Or that WhatsApp founders left Meta/Facebook in disgust, started [the] #deletefacebook campaign & made major contributions to building Signal.
