Iranian state television on Tuesday afternoon urged the country’s public to remove the messaging platform WhatsApp from their smartphones, alleging the app — without offering specific evidence — gathered user information to send to Israel. In a statement, WhatsApp said it was “concerned these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most.” WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, meaning a service provider in the middle can’t read a message.

Iranian state television on Tuesday afternoon urged the country’s public to remove the messaging platform WhatsApp from their smartphones, alleging the app — without offering…

Tech giant rejects ‘false reports’ after Iranian state media urges citizens to delete messaging app.