Wave of WhatsApp suspensions sweeps across Israel, raising concerns of blocked accounts

A wave of WhatsApp account suspensions across Israel over the weekend has triggered widespread concern. The Israel Internet Association advised users to back up important data. Yonatan Ben-Horin of the Safe Internet Hotline reported that accounts were suspended after sending innocent messages to businesses. Meta has been contacted but has not yet responded.

A wave of WhatsApp account suspensions across Israel over the weekend has triggered widespread concern among users. The Israel Internet Association on Saturday advised users to back up important information stored in the app in case their accounts were also suspended. Speaking on 103FM on Sunday, Yonatan Ben-Horin of the Safe Internet Hotline described the reports: 'We started receiving small but steady reports of people whose accounts had been suspended after sending an entirely innocent message to a business or someone they wanted to contact.' The organization found that all suspended accounts had sent messages to businesses or similar recipients, not unfamiliar numbers. Ben-Horin noted the dependence on WhatsApp and said the association reached out to Meta, which asked for a list of suspended account numbers but has not yet provided answers. He stressed the importance of independent backups outside of WhatsApp's cloud services.