Is it edgy? I find it somewhat nuanced and sensible. What is a bit proper of pseudoanonymous tech bro forums is people larping as military grade security analysts in a forum because they are unable to live out that dream in an actual scenario where they have any power on.

If the application is actively distributed in a country and their usage is permitted by their Terms of Service, then yes Whatsapp is liable for the security of their users in that context. If however the application is not actively distributed in that country, and there are active measures like geolocalization (and asking the user what country they are from during signup) to avoid serving such countries, then usage in those countries is outside the scope of Whatsapp.

Furthermore Whatsapp is a civilian app and is not designed or guaranteed for military usage, it's outside the scope of whatsapp.

Can the technique be used as one tool of many (including a bullet) in order to kill someone? Yes, is this a deadly security vulnerability? No, of course not, that's reaching, I'm not sure what would compel these exaggerations, maybe the larping, maybe its a general hatred towards whatsapp and you just jump on any opportunity to release your pent up anger.

It's worth noting that there's a gap between the security capabilities of whatsapp and the security capabilities they are legally required to have. Whatsapp will no doubt patch this small issue and keep that gap, but WA as it stands is one of the most secure and widely used applications in the world, has had an almost impollute historical record which is why billions of users trust the application with personal and professional secrets.

P.S: Also, you always could find out if a phone number is a whatsapp user individually, just add them on whatsapp and try to message them.

Wow so much unrelated drama combined with pretty interesting advertisement.

Do you work for Meta?

People don't use WhatsApp because it's so secure. In certain countries people started using it because it was the first app that was cheaper than SMS and now they use it because everybody else is still using it. There is no other significant reason.

They have a history of security issues going back to 2011 when you could take over other peoples account. Today is just the last story of this ugly and leaking brother to Signal. The actually "most secure" app out there.