The BTK’s New Regulation: Will It Prevent You from Being Added to the Wrong Group?

On March 11, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, a renowned American magazine, was added to a Signal group. Signal is a messaging app like WhatsApp, favored by journalists worldwide for its enhanced security. Like WhatsApp, Signal offers group features; however, the group Goldberg joined was far from ordinary. Its founder, Michael Waltz, served as National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump. Other members included U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Director of National Intelligence, and deputies from similar institutions. When Vice President JD Vance joined as well, the group effectively became a meeting point for top-level security officials, focusing on coordinating an attack on the Houthis in Yemen.

For a few days, routine messages were exchanged within the group Goldberg had joined. As a journalist, he remained skeptical, wondering, “Is this a trap to spread disinformation?” Then, on March 14, JD Vance posted the following messages:

- Gentlemen, I believe we are making a mistake. 3% of U.S. and 40% of European trade pass through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait near Yemen. If we launch an operation in Yemen, how will we explain it to the public? Oil prices might rise, too. Is the President informed adequately on these matters?

After some debate, the group concluded, “Alright, let’s just drop a few bombs.” Goldberg remained suspicious. On the morning of March 15, the group shared the operation details. JD Vance wrote, “Praying for our victory.” Two members responded with prayer emojis.

At 1:45 PM (evening in Yemen), Goldberg was in his car listening to the radio for any news of the bombing. A few minutes later, a flurry of emojis — American flags and more — appeared in the Signal group chat. The radio news confirmed the bombing.

Before publishing the story, Goldberg contacted the offices of group members to offer a right of reply. The most important response came from JD Vance’s office:

- The Vice President fully supports the President’s foreign policy. The President and the Vice President have consulted on this matter and are in complete agreement.

As you can see, the most crucial principle in politics is loyalty. How many U.S. laws were violated in the Signalgate scandal that Goldberg detailed? Bureaucracies are built on the principle of documenting everything. Previously, decisions were made in person or via phone and then recorded. The coordination of decision-making through written text is a pathology of the WhatsApp era. And when convenience is prioritized, oddities like this can occur.

Let’s leave this scandal to the Americans and examine the security features of various messaging apps. The most secure app is Apple’s iMessage. In an iMessage group, each message you send is delivered individually to every member. It’s encrypted end-to-end each time. Therefore, even if someone manages to decrypt one message, they cannot access past or future messages.

Signal’s system is a bit more centralized. Messages are sent all at once, not individually, to each member. If encryption is broken, previous messages remain unreadable, but future messages can be seen.

WhatsApp messages go to a central server before being distributed, making it riskier regarding past message access and future message exposure if a key is compromised.

Despite its reputation, Telegram does not have encryption by default. This is why iMessage limits groups to 32 members, Signal and WhatsApp allow over a thousand, and Telegram allows thousands.

No matter how secure your messaging app is, security is compromised if you add the wrong person to a confidential group. Indeed, you’ve experienced an “Oops, wrong group!” moment. The Signal scandal in the U.S. demonstrates that such mistakes aren’t limited to us mere mortals. Even top U.S. intelligence officials can mistakenly add the wrong person to a group.

Last month, Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) announced a new draft regulation for messaging apps. In the future, apps with over one million users in Turkey will be required to obtain a license. According to my go-to AI-powered search engine, Perplexity, Malaysia is currently the only country with such a licensing system. Pakistan has proposed a draft but has yet to implement it. By 2026, some apps that choose not to comply may disappear from our lives. For now, we should remember the saying, “Every cloud has a silver lining.” At least the chances of ending up in the wrong group or sending a message to the wrong place may soon decrease.

This article is a translated version of “BTK’nın yeni yönetmeliği yanlış kişilerle gruba girmenizi önler mi?” which was initially published in Economic Daily (Nasıl Bir Ekonomi Gazetesi) in Economic Daily on March 28, 2025.