As WhatsApp Tops 2 Billion Users, Its Boss Vows to Defend Encryption

Will Cathcart said users demand end-to-end encryption, and that private communication shouldn’t go away in a modern society

By
Jeff Horwitz

WhatsApp has surpassed more than two billion active users, and its leader is vowing to defend its fully private form of messaging against mounting threats from governments around the world.

In announcing the milestone, WhatsApp head Will Cathcart said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the app’s global popularity underscores why the company needs to fight for its users’ ability to communicate through encrypted channels. Even though encryption has complicated Facebook Inc.’s ability to earn a return on its $21.8...