WhatsApp branded accusations its app contains a backdoor, which could enable governments to force it to decrypt message streams, “false”.

In a statement, WhatsApp said it would “fight any government request to create a backdoor”.

“The design decision referenced in The Guardian story prevents millions of messages from being lost, and WhatsApp offers people security notifications to alert them to potential security risks,” it continued.

The original report cited a University of California security researcher, who noted the way in which WhatsApp processes undelivered messages created a security loophole, which could be used to access messages.

“WhatsApp published a technical white paper on its encryption design, and has been transparent about the government requests it receives, publishing data about those requests in the Facebook Government Requests Report,” the messaging player said.