WhatsApp announces 'easy tips' to combat fake news
At the centre of many controversies for being a platform being used to spread 'fake news', WhatsApp is now suggesting ways to combat this menace. In a list of 'easy tips', WhatsApp has announced that they are rolling out a new feature using which users can distinguish forwarded messages so that they can double check facts in case they are not sure who wrote the original message.
In the announcement, which was also published in leading dailies, the company has suggested different ways to the users for identifying accuracy of the information.
For instance, if the information seems unbelievable, the users should look at other news websites or apps to see if the story is being reported elsewhere.
WhatsApp newspaper ad on false information.
Before rolling out this feature in India, the company had said, “We have been testing a new label in India that highlights when a message has been forwarded versus composed by the sender. This could serve as an important signal for recipients to think twice before forwarding messages because it lets a user know if content they received was written by the person they know or a potential rumour from someone else.”
Earlier this month, Facebook Inc, Whatsapp's parent firm, in a letter to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said that putting a break on the spread of false messages through its platform is a challenge that requires a partnership between the company, government and society.
The company's reply came after the respective ministry issued a warning to WhatsApp in the wake of killings taking place across the country due to rumours that circulate via the platform.
Five people were lynched to death by villagers in Maharashtra's Dhule district after videos of child lifters were actively circulated on a WhatsApp group.
A similar incident was reported from Tripura, wherein one person was lynched while two others were injured after a mob suspected them to be child lifters.
