European governments close the door on WhatsApp, Signal

Several EU member states switching to their own messaging apps for government communications

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Several EU member states are switching to their own messaging apps for government communications. The capitals no longer want to depend on American tech companies for sensitive communication between civil servants and ministers.

NATO also now has its own messaging platform. The European Commission wants to make the switch before the end of this year.

According to Politico, France, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium are actively taking steps to phase out WhatsApp and Signal.

Belgium will use BEAM, developed by Belgian Secure Communications, and Germany will use chat technology from the company Wire. Other countries are looking at technology from Element. NATO and the European Commission will get their own apps.

France will stop using Microsoft Teams and Zoom for video by the end of 2027 and switch to its own in-house system, Visio. The Netherlands is currently running trials with it.

The move away from American apps has become more urgent in recent weeks. The AIVD warned only last month that Russian hacker groups were carrying out targeted phishing attacks via WhatsApp and Signal on politicians and government officials. The European Commission therefore asked, for example, senior civil servants to shut down a Signal group.

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