The Indian government has demanded the global messaging giant, WhatsApp, which has been used as a conduit for spreading misinformation that led to mob lynchings in India, work out a method to trace these harmful messages.
The Facebook-owned messaging app "must find solutions to these challenges which are downright criminal and [a] violation of Indian laws," information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday following a meeting with WhatsApp CEO Chris Daniels.
India is WhatsApp's biggest global market with over 200 million users and recently has come under fire from the government after a dozen mob lynchings were linked to messages shared on the messaging app.
Prasad told the media, WhatsApp needs to be better at tracing harmful messages.
Four Indian students (Image for representation only). Source: Getty Images
"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."
The minister said he also 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.
"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."
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