A day after the Centre asked WhatsApp to take steps to prevent use of its platform for spreading rumours and triggering “lynching” in parts of the country, the US-based social media platform outlined several steps to address the concerns raised by the Government.
However, the Centre remained far from satisfied with the response of the US-based social media platform. IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad demanded greater accountability from the company saying that finding technological fixes to identify mass-circulation of messages on a particular issue in a particular area cannot be “rocket science”.
Prasad said while he had taken note of the assurances offered by WhatsApp that these commitments should become a reality at the earliest.
“WhatsApp needs to recognise that our country offers a huge market for them and they are making good money out of India operations, so they must focus on security aspects in India in particular. If it requires the creation of more avenues of technology for safety, they must do it soon,” Prasad asserted.
Without specifying whether it will stop services of any person found to be spreading fake news, WhatsApp said it has made changes on group chats to prevent the spread of unwanted information. It has also introduced features that prevent users from re-adding former members and enabling group administrators to decide who can send messages. It is also testing labeling of forwarded messages. While users can block anyone with just one tap, they are also prompted to report or block when any user — who is not in their address book — sends a message.
Detailing proactive steps to tackle abuse, WhatsApp said it retains limited information and is end-to-end encrypted but this privacy protection has trade-offs in form of “the inability to see problematic content spreading through private conversations on our app.” “That said, we do have the ability to prevent spam, which includes some of the misinformation that can create mistrust and potentially violence.
Because we cannot see the content of messages being sent over WhatsApp we block messages based on user reports and by the manner in which they are sent,” it said.
Prasad asserted that safety of Indians is “paramount” and the Government is well aware of its “powers” to tackle any abuse. “I am not supposed to look into their defence...Safety of Indians is paramount and if there is misuse, we know our powers...,” he said.
The IT Minister emphasised that India is emerging as a major digital power and offers a big market to WhatsApp and other tech companies. “We welcome companies like WhatsApps, Facebook and Twitter to be a part of India’s digital story and making commercial success...But they must remain accountable responsible and vigilant,” Prasad said.
Referring to WhatsApp’s submission on many of the messages being individual and one-on-one communications, the Minister said the platform should not ignore such cases either and that many of the issues can be handled with the application of technology.
“I expect WhatsApp India operations to work closely with my department, the Home Ministry and the State police apparatus (to deal with these issues),” he said.
Outlining steps it has taken to curb abuse of its platform, WhatsApp -- in its response to a notice sent by India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) -- said it has the ability to prevent spam but since it cannot see the content of private messages, blocking can be done only based on user reports.
It said it is horrified by these terrible acts of violence and its strategy to deal with the situation involves giving people the controls and information they need to stay safe while working proactively to prevent misuse of the service. “We are also working hard to educate people about how to stay safe online” and give a better understanding of the problematic fake news circulating on WhatsApp, it said.
The company said it uses machine learning to identify accounts sending a high volume of messages and that it is constantly working to improve its ability to stop unwanted automated messages. Stating that it responds to valid law enforcement requests in crime investigation, it said it will start an engagement programme with law enforcement officials around India.
“We use this technology to protect our user’s privacy and security. While WhatsApp messages can be highly viral, the way people use the app is by nature still very private. Many people (nearly 25 per cent in India) are not in a group; the majority of groups continue to be small (less than 10 people), and nine in 10 messages are still sent from just one person to another,” it said.