Amid the fake news controversy in the country, WhatsApp CEO Chris Daniels is in India and has meet IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to address concerns around the subject on its messaging platform which have led to horrific crimes like mob-lynching.
Amid the fake news controversy in the country, WhatsApp CEO Chris Daniels is in India and has meet IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to address concerns around the subject on its messaging platform which have led to horrific crimes like mob-lynching.
In conversation with Chris Daniels, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “I had a very productive meeting. I complimented him for extraordinary technological awakening that WhatsApp has led in the country, for education, healthcare, relief in Kerala. These are positive developments.”
He added, "There are also very sinister developments, that provokes crime like mob lynching, revenge porn, & you must find solutions to these challenges which are downright criminal violation of Indian laws. I suggested 3 points. 1- WhatsApp must have a grievance officer in India. 2nd- you must have a proper compliance of Indian laws.We won't appreciate a scenario where any problem will have to be answered in America. 3rd- WhatsApp has become an important component of India's digital storage & must have a proper corporate entity located in India. "
It is believed that Daniels will be in India for 4-5 days and meet business and government officials during his visit. A person familiar with his visit has said that WhatsApp officials plan to discuss measures being undertaken to counter the issue of fake news on its platform as well as the impending launch of its payments services in the country.
Last month, WhatsApp top executives including COO Matthew Idema had met IT Secretary and other Indian government officials to outline various steps being taken by the company to tackle fake news in India.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had also written to WhatsApp asking it to take immediate steps to prevent the circulation of false information and provocative content, saying it "cannot evade accountability and responsibility". WhatsApp -- in its response to the notice sent by India's IT Ministry -- 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.
At that moment, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has demanded greater accountability from social media platforms, saying finding technological fixes to identify mass-circulation of messages on a particular issue, in a particular area cannot be "rocket science".
With India being its biggest market with over 200 million users, the Facebook-owned messenger service asserted that it responds to "valid" law enforcement requests in investigating crimes.
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