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Scottish Government Ending Use of WhatsApp After Covid Inquiry Criticism
SCOTLAND, JUN 20 – The ban follows a review after revelations that senior officials deleted WhatsApp messages during the Covid inquiry, with some departments allowed limited transition until end of 2025.
- The Scottish Government ended the use of WhatsApp and similar messaging apps on government devices on Friday following criticism from the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
- The decision came after the inquiry found that government ministers and senior officials, among them Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney, had erased WhatsApp messages that were sought for investigation.
- Kate Forbes, Deputy First Minister, outlined a new policy requiring all Scottish Government personnel to use officially approved communication platforms, following a review of past remote working practices.
- Craig Hoy, the Scottish Conservative MSP, described the move as the closest the SNP would come to apologizing for the large-scale removal of Covid-related WhatsApp messages, which he attributed to actions led by Swinney and Sturgeon.
- A few government departments will continue to use these apps on a temporary basis through 2025 as part of efforts to enhance openness, transparency, and secure management of data.
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The Scottish government refuses to use WhatsApp and other "non-corporated" message services to perform official activities on government mobile devices, BBC ad, quoted by News.ro. This decision comes after the investigation of the pandemic of...
·Romania
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Scottish Government ending use of WhatsApp and other messaging services after Covid inquiry criticism
The Scottish Government is now ending the use of WhatsApp and other messaging services on its mobile devices, following criticism in the wake of the Covid inquiry.
·London, United Kingdom
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Evening Standard+3 Reposted by 3 other sources
Scottish Government ending use of WhatsApp after Covid inquiry criticism
The new policy came into effect on Friday.
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Nicola Sturgeon Covid deletion scandal leads to government phone WhatsApp ban
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes confirmed that all mobile messaging apps would be removed from phones of civil servants, special advisers and ministers after Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney deleted their Covid correspondence.
Coverage Details
Total News Sources17
Leaning Left4Leaning Right2Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution40% Left, 40% Center
Bias Distribution
- 40% of the sources lean Left, 40% of the sources are Center
40% Center
L 40%
C 40%
R 20%
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