Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro launches WhatsApp channel
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Monday launched a WhatsApp channel, with an English and Spanish language option, aimed at providing residents with updates on state news, services and initiatives.
“I believe there should be no wrong door to accessing state government, whether that’s over text, social media, or here on WhatsApp,” reads a welcome message to Shapiro’s new channel. “On this channel, you’ll be the first to hear about key announcements from my Administration, updates to state services and applications, and what we’re doing for communities like yours across the Commonwealth.”
There’s also a Spanish translation of the message.
Pennsylvania joins several other local governments also using WhatsApp to communicate with residents and for official business. New York City Mayor Eric Adams launched a WhatsApp channel in 2023 to communicate directly with New Yorkers. Framingham, Massachusetts, in 2023 started using WhatsApp groups to share information with residents, including in Portuguese.
Shapiro’s new WhatsApp channel builds on the state’s increasing use of technology to better communicate with Pennsylvanians. In 2023, Gov. Shapiro began using Community to exchange SMS texts with the public. The platform, which also features businesses, public figures and sports teams, is also used by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption, multimedia sharing and group chats, and boasts roughly 100 million users in the United States.
