Indian govt meets with WhatsApp to trace fake news – Source

Indian tech ministry officials met with senior WhatsApp
executives to ask the Facebook Inc (FB.O) unit to start tracing the
origins of misinformation spread through its messaging platform, a
senior government official said on Friday.

WhatsApp has been working to curb the circulation of what
technology minister Ravi Prasad termed “sinister” content in India,
the firm’s biggest market where it boasts over 220 million
users.

Such misinformation has led to the lynching of over 30 people
since January last year, according to data portal IndiaSpend,
prompting Prasad to call on WhatsApp to trace its origins.

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WhatsApp has previously declined to trace the origin of
messages, citing security issues.

“We have been asking them for traceability,” said the official
at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology,
declining to be identified as the meeting was private.

“They (WhatsApp) are non-committal on it but we are forcing this
issue.”

Officials said WhatsApp was represented by Director & Associate
General Counsel Brian Hennessy and one other executive, and said it
was working on measures to prevent the spread of
misinformation.

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“WhatsApp regularly engages with the Government of India to
discuss our commitment to maintaining a private and safe platform
for people to communicate with one another,” the firm said in a
statement.

“We look forward to continued discussions on how we can work
together toward these common goals.”

WhatsApp maintains that building traceability into its messaging
service would undermine its private nature and end-to-end
encryption, creating the potential for misuse.

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It has also said it will not weaken the privacy protection it
provides.

The firm has since launched print, radio and television
advertising campaigns to educate users on the dangers of
misinformation.

It is also conducted roadshows in partnership with mobile phone
network provider Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.

WhatsApp has held digital literacy training for community
leaders and law enforcement as well as introduced features on its
app such as limits on message forwarding and labels for forwarded
messages.(Reuters/NAN)

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