The Daily Telegraph

Indian government forces Whatsapp to act over viral lynching messages

- By Our Foreign Staff

WHATSAPP is to set limits on its 200 million Indian users in an effort to stop a spate of horrific lynchings.

Dozens of people have been killed by mobs in two months after being falsely accused of crimes in viral messages. The messages circulated rapidly across India, which is Whatsapp’s largest market, through mass forwarding.

The killings prompted the Indian authoritie­s to threaten legal action if Whatsapp did not take steps to stop the messages circulatin­g.

The Facebook-owned company said yesterday that it would test limiting the ability to forward messages. It will also cap at five the number of contacts or groups that messages can be forwarded to.

It addition, it said it would remove the “quick forward” button, making sending on messages more cumbersome.

“We believe that these changes – which we’ll continue to evaluate – will help keep Whatsapp the way it was designed to be: a private messaging app,” a statement issued by the company said.

Worldwide, the company will limit the number of forwards to 20 other groups, a spokesman added.

Under pressure from the Indian government, Whatsapp had already announced new features to help users identify messages that have been forwarded. It bought full-page adverts in Indian newspapers with tips on how to spot misinforma­tion.

However, it has insisted that its messages will stay “end-to-end encrypted” despite a government appeal for traceabili­ty.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom