WhatsApp Fake News Menace: Messaging App to Carry out Ad Campaigns to Control Spreading of False Messages
WhatsApp has come-up with this idea, following a series of mob lynching incidents that were reported in the recently in India.
New Delhi, July 4: Since the instances of mob lynching are on the rise across the country due to fake WhatsApp messages, the messaging app has decided to run long-term public safety ad campaigns in India, according to Reuters. On Tuesday, the Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, also held a meeting with his IT officials at Delhi Raj Bhavan, to find different ways to curb the spreading of WhatsApp rumours. The minister also warned the WhatsApp firm to come up with immediate preventive measures to control the fake messages from going viral. Besides this, he also directed the officials to prepare an action plan report and also enquired how the Indian government can play a pivotal role in controlling the rising menace.
In the reply over the centre's concern, Whatsapp told that a partnership with IT firms, civil society and government is required to control the fake messages from spreading widely. In a letter dated July 3, the company replied to centre and said that it is giving people controls and information they need to stay safe as well as making changes to group chats to prevent the spread of unwanted information.
WhatsApp has come-up with this idea, following a series of mob lynching incidents that were reported in the recently in India. The recent incident of mob lynching was reported in Maharashtra's Dhule district where five people were killed on suspicion that they were child lifters. Similar, mob lynching incidents were also reported in Kerala, Gujarat and parts of India earlier. All incidences were triggered by common fake WhatsApp messages.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 04, 2018 01:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).