WhatsApp tweak to curb lynchings
The new curbs are aimed at slowing down the pace at which messages related to rumours can be spread.
New Delhi: Under pressure from the government to take steps to prevent spreading of rumours, instant messaging WhatsApp on Friday announced measures to curb the spread of false information using its service on smartphones. Now, users in India would be able to forward messages to only five groups or individuals, in one go.
The company’s announcement comes after a spate of mob lynchings allegedly linked to messages circulated on WhatsApp groups.
Currently, WhatsApp lets its subscribers to forward a message to multiple chats at once. A WhatsApp group cannot have more than 256 members. Some of the groups on which messages that allegedly triggered mob violence in the past few months had over 100 members each.
More than 20 people have been killed by mobs in the past two months across the country after being accused of child kidnapping and other crimes in viral messages circulated on WhatsApp.
The new curbs are aimed at slowing down the pace at which messages related to rumours can be spread.
The company said it will also remove the quick forward button next to media messages.
India is one of the biggest markets for WhatsApp. “Today, we’re launching a test to limit forwarding on WhatsApp. In India — where people forward more messages, photos, and videos, than any other country in the world — we’ll also test a lower limit of five chats at once and we’ll remove the quick forward button next to media messages,” said the company in a blog.
The company said, “We believe that these changes — which we’ll continue to evaluate — will help keep WhatsApp the way it was designed to be: a private messaging app.”
The government had earlier this month demanded that WhatsApp rein in misuse of its platform. “When rumours and fake news get propagated by mischief mongers, the medium used for such propagation cannot evade responsibility and accountability,” it had said.“If they remain mute spectators they are liable to be treated as abettors and thereafter face consequent legal action,” it had warned.
In the statement, the ministry of electronics and information technology had said that it has been conveyed to the company “in unmistakable terms” that it is a very serious issue which deserves a more sensitive response.