India directs WhatsApp CEO to comply with law of the land

New Delhi, Aug 21: Sending a stern message to WhatsApp over unabated mob lynchings linked to the spread of misinformation on its platform, Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday instructed visiting CEO Chris Daniels to comply with the law of the land and take “suitable” steps to prevent misuse of the instant messaging platform. Prasad, in a brief interaction with the media after meeting Daniels here, said he also directed the WhatsApp boss to appoint a grievance officer and establish a separate corporate entity in the country.

“WhatsApp has biggest footprint in India and has done a great job, be it in the field of education or helping people in Kerala floods. But I’m more concerned about the platform being misused for mob lynching and revenge porn. It has to find a technical way to deal with these issues,” the minister said.

“I have told WhatsApp to comply with the Indian laws, open a corporate entity and appoint a grievance officer here who can be reached to address such issues,” Prasad added. Daniels, according to Prasad, assured him that the Facebook-owned platform will soon take steps on all these counts. The minister also asked the CEO to work closely with law enforcement agencies and create public awareness to prevent misuse of the platform. WhatsApp, however, did not issue any statement on the outcome of the meeting.

The meeting came against the backdrop of over 30 incidents of mob lynching in the recent past that were linked to the circulation of fake messages and misinformation on WhatsApp. The Facebook-owned platform has over 200 million monthly active users in India. WhatsApp was hauled up in July by the government on its failure to check the spread of fake and provocative content on its platform amid growing lynching episodes. (IANS)