As you might expect the idea is about as popular as a Yevgeny Prigozhin fanzine in Kyiv, but apparently most of the blow-back is within Meta itself.

Teams at Meta have been discussing whether to show ads in lists of conversations with contacts on the WhatsApp chat screen, but no final decisions have been made.

However, the concept has been debated at a high level within the company, due to concerns it would alienate users, said a person with close knowledge of the discussions.

Two of these people said that Meta is also deliberating whether to charge a subscription fee to use the app ad-free, but many insiders are against the move.

Before WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook for $19 billion in 2014, its co-founder Brian Action had made "No ads! No games! No gimmicks!" a company mantra.