INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
WhatsApp has over 200 million monthly active users in India
provocative content, Facebook-owned WhatsApp on Wednesday wrote to the IT Ministry saying the company is "horrified" by terrible acts of
violence.Reacting to the growing instances of mob killings of innocent people owing to large number of irresponsible messages filled with
rumours and provocation circulated on WhatsApp, the IT Ministry on Tuesday asked WhatsApp to take immediate action and ensure that the
platform is not used for such malafide activities."Thank you for your letter dated July 2
Like the Government of India, we're horrified by these terrible acts of violence and wanted to respond quickly to the very important issues
We believe this is a challenge that requires government, civil society and technology companies to work together," WhatsApp said in the
letter sent to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).WhatsApp which has over 200 million monthly active users in
India, listed a number of measures it has taken in the recent past to control the spread of misinformation and abuse on its platform."We
have been testing a new label in India that highlights when a message has been forwarded versus composed by the sender
This could serve as an important signal for recipients to think twice before forwarding messages because it lets a user know if content they
received was written by the person they know or a potential rumor from someone else
year by mobs after rumours of child lifting triggered via messages on WhatsApp.In Mid-May, said WhatsApp, it added new protections to
we launched a new setting that enables administrators to decide who gets to send messages within individual groups
This will help reduce the spread of unwanted messages into important group conversations - as well as the forwarding of hoaxes and other
content," the popular messaging platform noted.WhatsApp has also announced a new project to work with leading academic experts in India to
learn more about the spread of misinformation."The fact-checking organisation Boom Live is available on WhatsApp and has published some
reports on the source of the rumours that have contributed to the recent violence," the company said.While WhatsApp messages can be highly
majority of groups continue to be small (less than 10 people); and nine in 10 messages are still sent from just one person to another,"
hoaxes and false information -- while still enabling people to communicate reliably and privately across India," it noted.WhatsApp also
announced to soon start an engagement programme with the law enforcement officials across the country so "they are familiar with our
approach and how we can be helpful".
