Government Asks WhatsApp to Convey the Steps Taken to Deal With Fake News

The government has asked WhatsApp to convey the various steps taken by them to deal with fake news, even as it said the Centre has no plans to tap into citizen’s messages, Parliament was informed today. The Ministry of Electronics and Information technology (MeitY) is also running a programme — Information Security Education & Awareness (ISEA) to highlight the importance of following ethics while using Internet and advice against sharing rumours/ fake news, Minister of State for Electronics and IT SS Ahluwalia said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

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“Government has also asked WhatsApp to convey various steps taken by them to deal with fake news and also to share learning material to educate the same,” he said, as reported by PTI.

In response to a query on whether the government planned to tap citizen’s WhatsApp messages, Ahluwalia said: “No, Sir”.

“Government does not regulate content appearing on the Internet. Law enforcement agencies take appropriate action on posting of malicious content on the Internet on the specific case-to-case basis,” he said in response to a separate query.

Besides, the government has taken several initiatives for user awareness relating to cyber safety, and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) issues advisories about cyber safety and security, he pointed.

Following multiple incidents of mob lynching across the country, the government had slapped messaging platform WhatsApp with two notices, with the second one warning that it will treat the messaging platform as ‘abettor’ of rumour propagation and legal consequences will follow if adequate checks are not put in place.