For now I have a Tasker job routinely deleting WhatsApp's media directories. Unfortunately everyone is using it so I have to stick with it. Hate WhatsApp with passion.
As others have stated, just uninstall it now. Even at my work, my manager wanted us to use WhatsApp to communicate with our offshore teams. I let her know that I would be happy to do so with a company provided phone, but I don't install spyware on my devices, and furthermore don't have an app store so would need to be able to build it from source. But I'd be happy to use signal or email.