WhatsApp campaigns to curb fake news will run in eight regional languages such as Bengali, Assamese, Kannada, Gujarati, Telugu, Marathi, Oriya and Tamil.
The Facebook-owned company, WhatsApp, faced severe criticisms from the government over the circulation of fake news on its platform that prompted multiple incidents of mob lynching across the country.
WhatsApp, taking a step to end the efforts on the spread of fake news, today stated that it would be expanding its radio campaign to 10 more States in India, which includes Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.
WhatsApp kicked off the first phase of its radio campaign which urges users to check the integrity of information received as a forward before sharing it with others on August 29, 2018, in seven States including Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
"The second phase of the campaign starts on September 5 with radio ads across 83 radio stations of AIR across the States of Assam, Tripura, West Bengal, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Orissa and Tamil Nadu," Whatsapp said in a statement.
These campaigns will run in eight regional languages such as Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu, Oriya and Tamil, and will run for a 15-day duration, it added.
"The campaign has been designed in an easy-to-understand format to help users spot misinformation and further sensitise them about the challenges of fake news and addressing these as a society," it noted.
These campaigns will advise users to verify the authenticity of messages before forwarding them and to report content that might be inflammatory. It also cautions users to be careful about forwarding messages that contain misinformation and said doing so could have serious repercussions.
WhatsApp, which has been slapped with two notices to check the spread of fake news, has taken a series of measures, including restricting the number of forwards and added forward' label to help users identify such messages. It is also in the process of establishing a local corporate entity.
It has, however, not accepted the government's demand for traceability of messages saying that creating such software will go against the idea of user privacy and end-to-end encryption.
With general elections slated to be held next year in India, the government is taking a tough stance on the use of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp for the spread of misinformation.
The government had warned WhatsApp that it would treat the messaging platform as an abettor of rumour propagation and legal consequences will follow if adequate checks are not put in place.
"WhatsApp stands committed in its efforts to address these issues jointly with civil society, stakeholders and the government," the company said in its statement.
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