Alice Newton-Rex, WhatsApp’s director of product, previously told the FT that WhatsApp statuses were “the world’s most used stories product”. They allow users to post images that disappear after 24 hours. The Updates tab attracts 1.5bn users daily, the company said.

Meta announced that it is adding ads and subscriptions to its WhatsApp messaging app in a June 16 press release. The social media giant, primarily known as the parent company of Facebook, said that the changes will roll out over the next few months and that they are intended to help businesses and organizations grow.