WhatsApp may have taken a slew of measures to fight misinformation but the task is more complex than it seems
It is unfortunate that we, collectively as Indians, have set the bar so low for our consumption of news, with millions accessing information from the Internet with little or no desire to ensure authenticity and/or credibility. With data coming cheap and the lack of demand for professionally processed information, i.e. news, being apparent especially among first-generation educated Indians, the degradation of the quality of information being disseminated is apparent. Simultaneously, the proliferation of false information or fake news is increasing. It is against this backdrop that the Internet-based social media platform of choice for Indians accessing and disseminating information, WhatsApp, has come under tremendous scrutiny in recent times. The spread of rumours that has led to a spate of lynching incidents by enraged mobs were all using this platform to spread disinformation masquerading as news.
While the origin of these messages are yet untraceable, and may not ever be known, the social media app has rightly incurring the displeasure of the Government which warned it of legal action if necessary steps are not taken to curb the menace of fake news. Faced with a fait accompli, WhatsApp has finally sought to tackle the issue more seriously than it has hitherto. In quick succession, it introduced three new upgrades to its app besides issuing a full-page advertisement telling Indians on how to identify and tackle fake news. For example, its move to restrict the forwarding of texts to just five people at one go may restrict the ease of en masse forwarding of messages. Similarly, it has done away with the quick forward sign beside the messages. But copy-and-paste masters will be up to their tricks.The bigger problem, however, remains unaddressed: How do we keep a check on the outrageous content doing the roundsIJ Present measures lack accountability and piling the pressure on WhatsApp, while important, will not solve the problem. There is no quick-fix solution at hand but a sustained public awareness campaign on the difference between professional media generated content (despite the rogues there too), and fake news put out by unverified sources would be a start.