WhatsApp To Control The Spread Of Fake Messages: Ravi Shankar Prasad

New Delhi: Instant messaging giant WhatsApp on Tuesday assured the Indian government that it would take measures to control the spread of fake messages. This was revealed by the Union IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad who met WhatsApp CEO Chris Daniels and exhorted the latter to develop a mechanism to trace ‘sinister’ messages.

Prasad further informed that WhatsApp has been working with law enforcement agencies to develop a stringent system in this regards. This comes after the Indian government expedited efforts to curb mass message forwards, after it was found that people were using WhatsApp to spread fake news and spark public anger. False messages circulated on WhatsApp have led to a series of mob beatings across the country this year.

In view of this, WhatsApp had stated in July that message forwards will be limited to five chats at a time, whether among individuals or groups, and the quick forward button placed next to media messages will be removed. The company had also launched an advertising campaign to educate consumers regarding the spread of spurious messages.

Notably, India is WhatsApp’s largest market with more than 200 million users where it claims people forward more messages, photographs and videos than any other country.

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