Messaging services are providing a more private internet
This has advantages—and risks
WHATSAPP, WHICH 2bn people use to send some 100bn messages a day, is rarely in the news. When it is, the stories are mostly about whether, in order to increase competition, it should be hived off from its corporate parent, Facebook—a company rarely out of the news.
This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Global grapevines”
International January 23rd 2021
More from International
Why don’t more countries import their electricity?
The economics make sense, but the geopolitics are nerve-racking
Trump unmasks American selfishness, say cynics
But sceptics are wrong to call America First business as usual
Inside the Houthis’ moneymaking machine
After a ceasefire in Gaza, they may continue their Red Sea racket
Marco Rubio will find China is hard to beat in Latin America
China buys lithium, copper and bull semen, and doesn’t export its ideology
Donald Trump has a strong foreign-policy hand, but could blow it
Bullying foreigners can be sadly effective, but also a dangerous distraction
Women warriors and the war on woke
Trump’s Pentagon pick wants women off the battlefield