30 6 august 2018of public policy at sharechat. the platform also monitors indi-
viduals who share such content. “if a person has sent one video,
it is possible he has been fooled by the piece of content. but if he
has shared two or three such videos, it means he is [up to] some
mischief and we immediately block that user,” says Malu.
O
n Whatsapp, though, it is a virtual black hole. the com-
pany claims its messages are encrypted end-to-end and it
doesn’t even have access to them. but now that the Government
has pulled up Whatsapp, the platform is taking several steps to
prevent fake videos and messages from going viral.
i has introduced a ‘forwarded’ tag for messages that are dit -
rectly forwarded from one chat to another. the platform has also
decided to limit to five the number of times that a single message
can be forwarded by any user. but with each one still able to for-
ward to another five, it is not clear how effective this restriction
will prove. the earlier limit was 250.
the Government, meanwhile, has constituted a panel headed
by Union home Minister Rajnath singh to formulate a plan to
tackle fake news and prevent attacks intigated by it. the commit-
tee will submit its recommendations to the Government within
a month. this comes after the supreme court spoke strongly
against the rule of the mob, asserting that such incidents ‘cannot
be permitted to become the normal way of life’. there are reports
that prime Minister narendra Modi held a closed-door meeting
with senior police officers from across india recently, asking them
to closely monitor those who are spreading fake news.
in the past week or so, top Whatsapp executives have held a
meeting with government representatives and other stakehold-
ers to deliberate upon what could work in the interest of both
parties. Whatsapp is also working with several partners in india
to design a digital literacy programme that could have fake news
spotted and nipped in good time. it has also brought out full-page
advertisements in leading newspapers, offering tips on how to
check the authenticity of a particular piece of information.
“[Whatsapp] met us and we asked them to counter fake news,
which frankly remains quite a challenge for us to counter,” says
Divya spandana, the congress party’s social media and digital
communications head. “We also asked them to make some of
their tools accessible to all. Recently, a mobile platform flashed
news that Mr Modi was going to speak in parliament. so did Mr
[Rahul] Gandhi, but no message was sent across about that.”
With pressure mounting on Whatsapp, there are apprehen-
sions that it may be forced to compromise its privacy commitment.
this is unlikely to be welcomed by users. Videos and images shared
on Whatsapp are also critical to journalism; police sources in con-
flict areas like Kashmir, for instance, use the app to share crucial
material with journalists on the assurance of its confidentiality.
“it is a difficult balance to achieve,” says Rahul Matthan, who
heads the technology practice at the law firm trilegal. “the ideal
scenario is to preserve civil liberties and make sure that law enforce-
ment in the country is strong to prevent harm from things aimed
at perpetuating violence. but if law enforcement is under pressure,
then these liberties will be eroded, which seems to be inevitable.”
another major concern revolves around misinformation cam-
paigns unleashed by political parties, especially in the run-up to
an election. experts say rumour mills operating on platforms like
Whats app are now a regular feature of politics in india. “political
parties see prevention of fake news as a hindrance. on a practical
basis, thus, i think all kinds of noise will be made now, which will
dwindle before we get into election mode,” says Matthan.
in the end, it could all boil down to efforts made by the admin-
istration and community leaders of a particular district.
Dakshin Dinajpur of West bengal is a case in point. Follow-
ing a lynching in June in neighbouring Malda district, the police
along with volunteers now routinely interact with villagers and
tell them about the perils of fake news. “We hold regular village-
level meetings with pradhans and other prominent people, and
use tools, such as posters in bengali, to educate people,” says pra-
sun banerjee, superintendent of police, Dakshin Dinajpur.
in telangana, the police are using the services of town cri-
ers who use traditional drums to press upon villagers that they
should not believe in everything they read or see on the internet
and that they should inform the police if they see anything sus-
picious. the police have conducted hundreds of outreach pro-
grammes to allay fears of imaginary gangs on the prowl.
“ i find it ironic sometimes,” says Rema Rajeshwari, “that we
have to use ancient methods of communication to undo the
damage done by modern communication.” nInda Bhosale’s husband Raju was one of five men lynched in Maharashtra’s Dhule district on July 1; (right) A crowd throngs the
damaged car in which Mohammed Azam, an infotech engineer from Hyderabad, was killed by a mob on July 15SOCIETYgETTYImagES