Fake news controversy: WhatsApp plans India team as govt cracks whip

The company is planning to strengthen its local presence by hiring a top executive, who will than build an India team

Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp, which has received a series of warnings and notices from the government over the spread of fake news, has said  the company is planning to strengthen its local presence by hiring a top executive, who will then build an India team. The American company has been at the centre of controversy ever since mob killings and lynching incidents had flared up due to free flow of fake news on messaging platforms, especially WhatsApp.        

Replying to the IT Ministry’s second notice issued on July 19, the California-based company said it understands the government’s concern about the messaging app being abused as a broadcast platform. It would work hard to check the abuse, and for that the company is using both machine learning and user reports to ban accounts engaging in abnormal behavior, according to the WhatsApp letter.

“We actively work to block accounts that are trying to misuse WhatsApp… We are also increasing our investigations into spam operations and look forward to partnering with local authorities on this effort,” WhatsApp Director and Associate General Counsel Brian Hennessy said in a July 27 letter to the government.

The letter, seen by Business Standard, also talks about WhatsApp agreeing to have a local presence in India. “It’s why we recently established a legal entity in India and are actively looking for a local leader in India who can help us build a team on the ground,” the company added.

The first notice to WhatsApp had gone out on July 2 asking the company to take remedial action in checking abuse of its platform. WhatsApp replied the next day, elaborating on the measures it would take to check spread of false or fake information. 

However, as the lynchings continued, the government on July 19 issued a second notice to WhatsApp, warning it of legal action. The government notice said that WhatsApp was liable to be treated as an abettor if the platform did not take necessary actions. 

We understand the seriousness and urgency of the challenge at hand. These attacks are horrifying — which is why we’ve taken swift action and we are prepared to work closely with your Ministry, the government and civil society going forward,” WhatsApp’s latest reply to the government said.

“We also agree that abuse during elections is a real concern. We are intensifying our election integrity efforts in advance of the Indian elections,” the company added.

The company even said that during the recent Karnataka elections, it had detected dozens of WhatsApp accounts engaged in ‘’spammy’’ behavior. Those accounts were banned subsequently, WhatsApp has claimed. 

However, on the issue of tracing of messages back to their source, WhatsApp said it was against the privacy and security of the app. The company pointed out that users relied on WhatsApp for sensitive conversations. Increasingly, police is using the platform to discuss investigations while citizens are reporting crimes. “Tracing private messages would undermine the private nature of the app with the potential of serious consequences for free expression, which would be very troubling to many users,” WhatsApp said.

The messaging app recently announced it would limit forwards of photos, videos and messages to five chats in India and remove the quick forward button next to media messages. Also, the platform is testing a label which marks links sent on chats as ‘suspicious’ in its bid to check spread of fake news and misinformation.

WhatsApp is among the world’s biggest messaging platforms, with more than 200 million active users in India.