The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has warned messaging service WhatsApp over the abuse of its platform and not censoring spread of fake messages and rumours. The Ministry has also directed to immediately stop the spread of “irresponsible and explosive messages filled with rumours and provocation” through the application of appropriate technology.
In a statement, the MEITY said on Tuesday that instances of lynching of innocent people have been noticed recently because of large number of irresponsible and explosive messages filled with rumours and provocation are being circulated on WhatsApp. The unfortunate killing in many States such as Assam, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tripura and west Bengals are “deeply painful and regretable.” It added that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has taken serious note of these irresponsible messages and their circulation in such platforms.
“While the law and order machinery is taking steps to apprehend the culprits, the abuse of platform like WhatsApp for repeated circulation of such provocative content are equally a matter of deep concern.”
“Deep disapproval of such developments has been conveyed to the senior management of the WhatsApp and they have been advised that necessary remedial measures should be taken to prevent proliferation of these fake and at times motivated/sensational messages.” The Government has also directed that spread of such messages should be immediately contained through the application of appropriate technology, it added.
The push to put a check on fake news comes after five people of a nomadic community in Dhule, Maharashtra were allegedly lynched by a mob on the suspicion that they were members of a gang that kidnapped children.
In recent months, fake videos of children being kidnapped, which were circulated on various social media platforms, have caused anxious villagers in rural India to set up patrol groups who lash out at anyone they don’t recognise. Such mobs have already claimed numerous victims. In May and June alone, at least six people died in WhatsApp-related mob attacks in eastern Assam, western Maharashtra and southern Tamil Nadu. As per reports, at least 31 people have been killed over the last one year in 10 different states by lynch mobs mobilised by rumours of child lifting spread over WhatsApp.
The Government letter added that WhatsApp cannot “evade accountability and responsibility specially when good technological inventions are abused by some miscreants who resort to provocative messages which lead to spread of violence.”
It added that the Government has conveyed in no uncertain terms that WhatsApp must take immediate action to end this menace and ensure that their platform is not used for such malafide activities.
WhatsApp had added new features for chat group administrators, giving them more control over the content that is being posted.
The new settings allow admins to restrict who can change a group’s subject, icon and description. There is also a feature in which only an administrator will be able to send messages to a group. “We’ve introduced this new setting so admins can have better tools for these use cases,” WhatsApp had said in a blog post.