WhatsApp’s vow to India

New Delhi – Facebook-owned WhatsApp assured the Indian government yesterday that it would develop tools to combat the problem of fake messages.

India has stepped up efforts to crack down on mass message forwards after it found that people were using platforms such as WhatsApp to stoke public anger. False messages circulated on WhatsApp have led to a series of mob beatings across the country.

WhatsApp chief executive officer Chris Daniels met India’s IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad yesterday, assuring the government of a solution.

Prasad said he had asked WhatsApp to develop a detailed mechanism to trace the origin of any such “sinister” messages.

“It does not need rocket science to locate a message,” Prasad said, adding that WhatsApp had said it was working with law enforcement agencies to develop its systems. – Reuters