Scottish Government to stop using WhatsApp in spring 2025

Ministers and staff to be barred from using informal messaging apps following review

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Informal messaging apps will be banned for use across Scottish government

Ministers and staff in the Scottish Government will be barred from using consumer messaging apps like WhatsApp for government business from spring 2025.

The announcement was made by Kate Forbes, the Deputy First Minister of Scotland. It comes after a review ordered by the previous first minister, Humza Yousaf, after it was found that minister and top civil servants had deleted messages that had been requested as part of the UK-wide Covid-19 Inquiry.

That Inquiry – and multiple leaks to newspapers – demonstrated how reliant senior government officials across the UK have become on informal messaging apps. However, the ease with which potentially incriminating messages can be deleted has raised questions over the use of such apps for official business where every communication must be recorded.

Indeed, Jamie Dawson KC, the lead counsel to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry claimed last year that most of the messages supposedly sent by the Scottish Government – both politicians and their staff – had been deleted. Both Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister during the Covid-19 crisis, and the current First Minister John Swinney were found to have deleted messages.

“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,” Forbes told Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs) this week.

She continued: “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.”

“Very clear guidelines” will now be produced so that senior politicians and their staff will be able to follow the new rules, said Forbes.