{"id":12268,"date":"2018-08-21T16:30:39","date_gmt":"2018-08-21T16:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=12268"},"modified":"2018-08-21T16:30:39","modified_gmt":"2018-08-21T16:30:39","slug":"whatsapps-new-ceo-meets-indian-officials-after-lynchings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=12268","title":{"rendered":"WhatsApp’s new CEO meets Indian officials after lynchings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WhatsApp has rolled out a slew of features designed to prevent mob violence in India. But officials there say the company needs to do even more.<\/h2>\n

The Facebook-owned messaging app “must find solutions to these challenges which are downright criminal and [a] violation of Indian laws,” technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters following a meeting with WhatsApp CEO Chris Daniels in New Delhi. <\/p>\n

Daniels is visiting India for the first time since he became CEO earlier this year. The country is WhatsApp’s biggest global market with over 200 million users. <\/p>\n

WhatsApp has found itself at the center of India’s fake news crisis<\/a>. More than a dozen mob lynchings in recent months have been linked to hoax messages spread on its platform. <\/p>\n

The killings are violent examples of how social media can serve as a conduit for fake news and misinformation<\/a>. Facebook<\/span> (FB<\/a><\/span>)<\/span> has been struggling for months to deal with questions about the kind of content it allows<\/a> on its website and other platforms. <\/p>\n

Prasad, who has repeatedly criticized WhatsApp for not doing enough to crack down on fake news, said the platform needs to be better at tracing harmful messages. <\/p>\n

“It does not need a rocket science to locate a message being circulated in hundreds and thousands … on the same day, on the same issue, in the same state, in the same district,” the minister said. “You must have the mechanism to find a solution.” <\/p>\n

Daniels did not address the press after the meeting, and WhatsApp declined to comment on Prasad’s comments. <\/p>\n

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The minister said he told Daniels that WhatsApp needs a “grievance officer” based in India who can directly address user concerns. He also said WhatsApp should fully comply with Indian laws and have a “proper corporate entity” in the country. <\/p>\n

“I am very assured to note that he clearly told me that all these three things will follow,” said Prasad, who described the meeting as “productive.” <\/p>\n

WhatsApp is hiring a head of operations and a policy chief for India. <\/p>\n

The company has already taken several steps to combat fake news and viral hoaxes in the country, including full-page newspaper ads<\/a> to raise awareness and stricter limits on how many chats<\/a> users can share. <\/p>\n

CNNMoney (New Delhi) <\/span> First published August 21, 2018: 9:37 AM ET<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WhatsApp has rolled out a slew of features designed to prevent mob violence in India. But officials there say the company needs to do even more. The Facebook-owned messaging app “must find solutions to these challenges which are downright criminal and [a] violation of Indian laws,” technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters following a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":12269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}