NEW DELHI: The Indian government on Tuesday directed global messaging platform WhatsApp to set up a local corporate entity and make concrete efforts to find a solution to deal with the spread of fake news on the platform. The last few months have seen a slew of instances of mob lynching that have been incited by fake news spread on social media and platforms like WhatsApp. With over 200 million users from India, WhatsApp is currently the most used messaging platform in the country.
The announcement that Whatsapp has been directed to take these measures was made by IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who met WhatsApp CEO Chris Daniels. While Prasad said that it has contributed significantly to India’s digital story, he added that it needs to find solutions to deal with “sinister developments” like mob-lynching and revenge porn.
“I had a very productive meeting with Chris Daniels, the CEO of WhatsApp. I complimented him for the technological awakening which it has led in the entire country... But there are also very sinister developments, which are provoking crimes like mob lynching, revenge porn. You (WhatsApp) must find solutions to these challenges which are downright criminal and violation of Indian laws,” Prasad said, “... it does not take rocket science to locate a message being circulated in hundreds and thousands... you (WhatsApp) must have a mechanism to find a solution.”
WhatsApp, he added, will face abetment charges if the directed actions are not taken. Besides setting up a local corporate entity, it has also been directed to appoint a grievance officer. Daniels, however, declined to comment on the proceeds of the meeting. Prasad went on to say that he was “happy” that WhatsApp is working with law enforcement agencies.
On the issue of WhatsApp’s impending roll out of payments services, Prasad said the company assured the government that it will comply with the stipulated rules.“We said we have flagged attention to the RBI, namely financial data being in India. The RBI is working on the guidelines and he (Daniels) has assured me, whatever guidelines RBI comes out with, he will comply with that,” the minister said.