and i think, joe, you'rejust back from interviewing will cathcart, who's the boss at whatsapp.ill cathcart has been telling you how many people are accessing whatsapp despite bans in some countries. let's just hear a clip of your interview. you'd be surprised how many people still manage to get through. it is a much higher fraction than you might think. what we can most do is look at some of the countries where we're blocked and still see, you know, worldwide, tens of millions of people connecting to whatsapp, be it via proxies or vpns or other ways that they've found ways to get around. there's a tension here where, you know, i don't want to necessarily point to a specific country and say, "oh, look, their block has actually been this ineffective," because you don't really want to tell that country that they should be doing different things, and you don't want to draw too much attention to it. i'd rather people just be able to access whatsapp and other services around the world. what did you make of his remarks, joe? well, it's interesting _ because of course, whatsapp occupie

you can see a longer version ofjoe's interview with will cathcart of whatsapp on the bbc world servicethe bbc world service. the bbc world service provides broadcast and digital content in over a0 languages and it's currently funded out of the licence fee that the bbc receives. but tim davie said that it can't carry on like that, adding — and i quote — "we will need to discuss "a long—term funding solution for the world service that "comes from central government budgets." joining me on the stage at the bbc radio theatre is jonathan munro, bbc news's director ofjournalism and deputy ceo. so, jonathan, thanks very much, indeed, forjoining us. the bbc wants the world service, at least, to be funded directly from central government budgets — why? first of all, as you've been discussing on this edition of the media show, the need for the world service — for impartial, free journalism around the world — has gone up and up and up and more and more territories have got editorial restrictions. secondly, inflation has affected all businesses. we're not immune from that at all. and, thirdly, the

for the boss of whatsapp, will cathcart, things are looking great. on paper.d by around two billion people and is starting to make money from its business users. it is always mind boggling and humbling to think about how many people around the world are using whatsapp. but globally the threats are growing. governments, including in the west, are putting pressure on him to change the app security. and elsewhere, his platform is caught up in geopolitical tensions. we speak in los angeles just days after china has banned whatsapp from being downloaded on iphones. is that a big loss for you? i know whatsapp isn't massive in china, but it does send a message, doesn't it? it does. and even if we're not, you know, massively popular, there are communities in china that particularly benefited from secure communication or the ability to communicate with the outside world, minorities and other sort of communities under particular threat to human rights. that situation is particularly unfortunate because while in a lot of circumstances people can still find creative ways

the head of whatsapp, will cathcart, has told the bbc that governments banning or blocking apps thatternet. he spoke to our cyber correspondentjoe tidy about internet freedom from a tech giant's perspective. huge increases from northern italy especially for calling... . forthe italy especially for calling... . for the boss of what's things are looking great on paper. his app are looking great on paper. his app is used by around 2 million people and are starting to make money from its business users. it was always mind—boggling and humbling. but it was always mind-boggling and humblinu. �* ., , humbling. but globally the threats are _ humbling. but globally the threats are growing. - threats are growing. governments including in the west are putting pressure on him to change the security of the app. elsewhere his platform is caught up in geopolitical tensions. we speak in los angelesjust days tensions. we speak in los angeles just days after china has banned whatsapp from being downloaded on an iphone. is a big loss for you? it downloaded on an iphone. is a big loss for you?— big loss

for the boss of whatsapp, will cathcart, things are looking great. on paper.lways mind boggling and humbling to think about how many people around the world are using whatsapp. but globally the threats are growing. governments, including in the west, are putting pressure on him to change the apps security. and elsewhere, his platform is caught up in geopolitical tensions. we speak in los angeles just days after china has banned whatsapp from being downloaded on iphones. is that a big loss for you? i know whatsapp isn't massive in china, but it does send a message, doesn't it? it does. and even if we're not, you know, massively popular, there are communities in china that particularly benefited from secure communication or the ability to communicate with the outside world — minorities and other sort of communities under particular threat to human rights. that situation is particularly unfortunate because while in a lot of circumstances people can still find creative ways to access whatsapp, the only way to get an app on an iphone is through apple's app store. t