How WhatsApp will force you to accept new privacy terms on May 15

Australian WhatsApp users will slowly be frozen out of the popular messaging app if they do not accept new terms and conditions before May 15.

WhatsApp has detailed how users who refuse the new terms will incrementally lose key functionalities over "a period of several weeks", effectively rendering it useless.

The changes to WhatsApp, with a reported global user base of 2 billion people, will allow greater sharing of information with parent company Facebook.

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There was immediate backlash in January when news broke of the looming shift in privacy, despite WhatsApp maintaining neither it nor Facebook will be able to see the content of messages or calls, but that the data would be used for commerce features and ads.

As some users departed for rival messaging platforms, such as Signal and Telegram, WhatsApp paused the rollout.

Now, in a post to its website, WhatsApp has detailed what will happen to users who fail to click "agree" on the updated terms which come into effect on May 15.

The post states that "No one will have their accounts deleted or lose functionality of WhatsApp" but it lays out the ways the app will lose functionality.

Users will encounter a "reminder" that will "eventually become persistent".

People will have "limited functionality" until they accept the update.

Avoiding agreement of terms will increase the severity of functionality lost.

"You won't be able to access your chat list, but you can still answer incoming phone and video calls," the statement said.

"If you have notifications enabled, you can tap on them to read or respond to a message or call back a missed phone or video call.

Then, after a few weeks of limited functionality, "you won't be able to receive incoming calls or notifications and WhatsApp will stop sending messages and calls to your phone."

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WhatsApp said it will not delete user accounts specifically for not signing up to its new terms.

However, accounts that are inactive for 120 days will be axed.

Facebook wants you to read articles before sharing

In other Facebook news, the social media giant is testing a new system which prompts users to read articles before sharing them with their friends.

The system, similar to a Twitter strategy deployed over the past six months, encourages people to read and understand the facts of a story beyond the headline.

When trying to share an article, some of Facebook's 2.6 billion monthly active users will notice a prompt which reads: "You are about to share an article without opening it. Sharing articles without reading them may mean missing key facts."

Facebook users can still share the unread article, but they will be presented with a clickable button which opens the linked article.