Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

UK ministers accused of ‘government by WhatsApp’ in court

UK ministers accused of ‘government by WhatsApp’ in court

Two high court cases brought by transparency campaigners exploring whether use of self-destructing messages is unlawful

Transparency campaigners have accused ministers of conducting “government by WhatsApp” in the UK’s third-highest court, arguing that the use of self-destructing messages on insecure platforms is unlawful and undemocratic.

Ministers and government officials could be stopped from sending “disappearing messages” after failing to keep public records of exchanges on personal phones, email and WhatsApp.

Some of those communications addressed matters of considerable public importance relating to the pandemic response and the awarding of government contracts.

From Tuesday, two separate cases will be heard over three days, with a decision at a later date.

The first case is brought by transparency campaigners All the Citizens (ATC) and non-profit Foxglove over the use of disappearing messages and auto-delete functions. The second case, brought by the Good Law Project, focuses on private devices.

On Tuesday, the high court heard that the prime minister, Boris Johnson, has used personal WhatsApp accounts to communicate “critical decisions”.

Ben Jaffey QC, representing ATC, said the messages could serve as a “public record for future societies” and that deletion does not adhere to “meaningful and parliamentary democracy”, allowing for “scrutiny through inquiries or court proceedings”.

The campaigners are also seeking an end to a Cabinet Office policy of deleting messages sent on personal devices, in some cases using functions that auto-delete messages after seven days, which they argue breaches the Public Records Act.

The government’s legal team contend that it is not unlawful for ministers to choose how they communicate, and the use of private devices is common in modern workplaces.

Executive director of ATC, Clara Maguire, said the case was prompted by a refusal from the Cabinet Office to answer questions on the use of WhatsApp for government business, which contravenes government policy.

She said: “It’s extraordinary that we’ve had to come to court to try and get answers. Our evidence reveals disappearing messages have been used time and again. This period, Boris Johnson’s government, will be a black hole for future historians.”

Evidence submitted to the judge includes several witness statements in which key figures of government are named for their use of personal devices and auto-deletion.

These include Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings, half the permanent secretaries in the Cabinet Office, all the special advisers and most Cabinet Office ministers, including the former health secretary, Matt Hancock, and the education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi.

The evidence also shows that the prime minister requested summaries of his “red box” submissions by WhatsApp to his personal phone, even though No 10 policy prohibits the use of the platform for “non-trivial communications”.

In their written arguments, the claimants’ lawyers contended that the “admitted instances of the use of automatic deletion are likely to be the tip of a much larger iceberg”.

The government’s legal team has suggested that information in private accounts is “not, in principle, inaccessible” and can be retrieved on request, that although their use is discouraged it is not banned, and contend that “it is possible to operate automatic deletion lawfully and fairly”.

In a written submission, they argued that “there is no principle” of common law stopping ministers or officials from communicating in a way “they consider appropriate”.

They continued: “The claims advanced are detached from the reality of current working practices. The modern working age is defined by instant and fast-paced communications.”

The cases continue.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×