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WhatsApp today roped in New Delhi-based non-profit Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) to train its over 200 million users in India on dangers posed by fake news. This step comes right after the Facebook-owned company was ordered by Central Government to take steps to stop the spread of disinformation on the platform. In a meeting with WhatsApp CEO Chris Daniels on August 21, Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad instructed the Facebook-owned platform to comply with the law of the land and take “suitable” steps to prevent its misuse.
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“Our goal is to help keep people safe by creating greater awareness about fake news and empowering users to help limit its spread,” Ben Supple, Public Policy Manager at WhatsApp, said in a statement. This news is reported by IANS.
The meeting took place after several lynching incidents were linked to the spread of misinformation on the instant messaging platform which has over 200 million monthly active users in India.
As part of the new partnership with WhatsApp, DEF has committed to holding 40 training sessions for community leaders in 10 states across the country where there have been worrisome cases of violence and where there will be state polls before the end of the year. DEF said it would help educate government officials, administration representatives, civil society organisations and students to spread the word about this challenge.
The training is expected to enable WhatsApp users to differentiate between opinions and facts, and to inculcate a habit of verifying information through simple checks before forwarding it to their friends and family.
