The one-way broadcasting feature launched by WhatsApp in 2023 is Channels. WhatsApp introduced Channels as a way for organizations, public figures and creators to send updates to large audiences without turning the conversation into a group chat.
Channels were first introduced in June 2023 in Colombia and Singapore, then expanded to additional countries. In September 2023, WhatsApp announced a broader rollout covering more than 150 countries. Followers can read updates and react, while their phone numbers remain private from the channel administrator and other followers.
Channels are different from Broadcast Lists. A Broadcast List sends a private message separately to selected contacts, whereas a Channel has a public-discovery and follower-based structure. Channels are also not the same as Communities, which organize related group chats. WhatsApp describes Channels as a private way to receive updates, although channel posts are not protected by the same end-to-end encryption used for ordinary personal chats.