With the booming rise of social media, if there’s anything that has become a consistent nuisance for everyone, including the government, it is the increasing instances of fake news being spread around on various social groups.
The matter becomes much more serious when the effects often lead to hateful information or bigotry being transmitted straight into the minds of people, often resulting into life-threatening consequences.
The number of fake-news spread through Whatsapp, that have resulted into a number of mob-lynching instances across the country, are certainly an alarming call for a serious action to be taken to curb the same.
Intervening into the matter, the Indian government had previously asked the app-makers to formulate a method, to help them curb down false information spread by it’s users – something they have refused or failed to comply with.
The government had asked Whatsapp to release information pertaining to the ‘source’ of viral fake-messages, in order to trace down it’s origins and find the perpetrators – something the app-makers refused to provide, as it violated their privacy terms.
The Indian government has now issued it’s third notice since this past July, urging the organization to either comply with the terms or be at the verge of being banned across the country.
Considering the millions that actually use the application here in India, that isn’t quite the business decision, the Facebook-owned app would be willing to take.
They now have the task of finding a technical resolution that helps law and enforcement trace down the very origins of viral messages, as and when needed.