Do I Have to Produce WhatsApp, RCS, and Google Voice — or Just SMS?
Generally, all of it — courts don't usually carve out a special exemption for a message just because it traveled over WhatsApp or RCS instead of plain SMS. The real issue is almost never the platform itself; it's how precisely the actual discovery request was worded.
1."Text messages" isn’t a legal term of art — "ESI" is
Courts generally analyze this under the broader category of electronically stored information (ESI), not a narrow technical definition of "text message." WhatsApp messages, RCS chats, Facebook Messenger threads, and similar formats are routinely treated as discoverable ESI in the same way SMS is — the platform doesn’t create a special exemption on its own.
2.But the wording of the actual request matters a lot
A request drafted narrowly — literally asking for "text messages" without more — invites an argument that it means SMS/MMS specifically, especially from a party who’d rather not produce a WhatsApp or Signal thread. Well-drafted discovery requests and forensic protocols name every platform explicitly (SMS, MMS, RCS, iMessage, WhatsApp, Messenger, Signal, Instagram DM, Telegram, and so on) precisely to close off that argument before it starts.
3.Google Voice has its own wrinkle
Google Voice numbers route through a Google account rather than a carrier, and message content lives inside that account’s data rather than on the phone’s native SMS app. It’s still discoverable ESI, but producing it may mean a Google Takeout export or account-level request rather than pulling it off the phone the way you would native texts.
4.If you’re the one requesting, name every platform
Don’t rely on "text messages" as a catch-all if you know or suspect the conversation happened on WhatsApp, RCS, or another app. Naming the specific platforms in your request — or asking generally for "all electronic messages and communications regardless of platform or app" — removes the ambiguity that a narrow reading could exploit.
5.If you’re the one producing, don’t assume a narrow reading protects you
Treating "text messages" as literally meaning SMS-only, when the request’s obvious intent was broader, is a real spoliation and good-faith-discovery risk if it later looks like you withheld responsive WhatsApp or RCS messages on a technicality. If there’s genuine ambiguity in what a request covers, the safer move is usually to ask opposing counsel to clarify scope, not to guess narrowly and hope it holds up.
Getting the export right, once scope is settled
Once it's clear which platforms are actually in scope, the practical part is exporting each one correctly — WhatsApp, RCS/Google Messages, and every other supported format each have their own export process, covered in our full export guide index.
This is general information, not legal advice, and Verity is not a law firm. How a specific discovery request or court order is interpreted depends on its actual wording and your jurisdiction — talk to your attorney about a specific request before deciding what it covers.
Once you have the export, whatever the platform
Upload it for a free health score in minutes — analysis runs entirely in your browser, nothing is uploaded.
Get your free health score →