Most recently, WhatsApp limited forwarding facility on its app, but Ministry of Electronic and IT Secretary Ajay Kumar Sawhney on Monday noted that these steps would not prove to be enough to tackle the growing problem of circulation of fake or speculative news.
“It (WhatsApp) has become a publishing medium, so there should be rules made for it, as publishing is from one to many. Some steps have been taken, some more measures are all also needed,” Sawhney told reporters.
Renowned cyber expert Pawan Duggal said that despite the move by WhatsApp being a welcome sign, it would not have a substantial impact.
“WhatsApp has taken a great step, but it would make a great impact as it does not guarantee that people won’t cut and paste and forward the messages further. Moreover, they have to deal with the main problem, that such content should not feature on the application and if it does, it should be removed immediately,” Duggal told News Agencies.
Duggal further suggested that WhatsApp is required to appoint a grievance officer in India, so that quick and effective resolution may be taken due to the fact that the messages spread like a wildfire on WhatsApp.
He also added that WhatsApp needs to follow the provisions, regulations, and rules of the information technology laws of the country.
WhatsApp had recently announced that it would limit forwarding on the messaging app in India.
In a statement, Whatsapp said, “In India – where people forward more messages, photos, and videos than any other country in the world – we will also test a lower limit of 5 chats at once and we’ll remove the quick forward button next to media messages.”
The move from WhatsApp came after the Indian government put pressure on all social media sites and messaging apps to follow the norms accordingly to be able to handle the dangerous menace of rumors and fake news on its platforms.
There were several reports of lynching across India, and all these were due to false rumors and fake news being spread on social media sites, especially WhatsApp. Some content relating to an advertisement to spread awareness regarding child kidnapping in a neighboring country was used to spread rumors about children being kidnapped in India.
Some cases of lynching were such that the police were not able to control the crowd and this led to the death of the victims.
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