

The same could be said for sending emails to a Gmail account. You won’t be forced to send messages to WhatsApp but you’d have the option. WhatsApp is popular where I live so having the ability to send messages to a WhatsApp account would be useful for me as I refuse to install or use any facebook apps.
Facebook (Meta) owns WhatsApp. I don’t use WhatsApp and it’s a hassle because it’s popular here so having the ability to send messages to WhatsApp without having a WhatsApp account or app would be useful.