wordpress blog stats
Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Exclusive: Government makes notices to WhatsApp, responses public

In response to an RTI application by MediaNama, the government has made public its correspondence with WhatsApp over concerns about fake news and lynchings. The IT Ministry has previously published press notes on these letters, but didn't publish the letters directly. In its response to the government's second letter, which hasn't been previously reported, WhatsApp said that they have already created a legal entity in India. MediaNama was able to confirm this entity's registration — WhatsApp Application Services Private Limited. Its existence was first reported by FactorDaily in January in an article about Facebook employees testing WhatsApp UPI Payments. WhatsApp confirmed to MediaNama that this entity, registered in Hyderabad's HITEC City, was what it was referring to in its letter. The IT Ministry obscured the names of the individuals from both WhatsApp and MeitY who signed off on the letters. Read the IT Ministry and WhatsApp's correspondence WhatsApp refuses traceability demand WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted so it's impossible even for the company to trace messages that end up spreading fake news that sometimes leads to lynchings and murders. In its second letter, MeitY made what it wanted from WhatsApp explicitly clear: "When rumours and fake news get propagated by gullible users or mischief mongers, the medium used for such propagation cannot evade responsibility and accountability. Therefore, there is a need for bringing in traceability and accountability so that when a Provocative/inflammatory message is detected and a request is made by law enforcement agencies, it should be possible to ascertain identity of…

Please subscribe/login to read the full story.
Written By

I cover the digital content ecosystem and telecom for MediaNama.

MediaNama’s mission is to help build a digital ecosystem which is open, fair, global and competitive.

Views

News

Amazon announced that it will integrate its logistics network and SmartCommerce services with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

News

India's smartphone operating system BharOS has received much buzz in the media lately, but does it really merit this attention?

News

After using the Mapples app as his default navigation app for a week, Sarvesh draws a comparison between Google Maps and Mapples

News

In the case of the ‘deemed consent' provision in the draft data protection law, brevity comes at the cost of clarity and user protection

News

The regulatory ambivalence around an instrument so essential to facilitate data exchange – the CM framework – is disconcerting for several reasons.

You May Also Like

News

Google has released a Google Travel Trends Report which states that branded budget hotel search queries grew 179% year over year (YOY) in India, in...

Advert

135 job openings in over 60 companies are listed at our free Digital and Mobile Job Board: If you’re looking for a job, or...

News

By Aroon Deep and Aditya Chunduru You’re reading it here first: Twitter has complied with government requests to censor 52 tweets that mostly criticised...

News

Rajesh Kumar* doesn’t have many enemies in life. But, Uber, for which he drives a cab everyday, is starting to look like one, he...

MediaNama is the premier source of information and analysis on Technology Policy in India. More about MediaNama, and contact information, here.

© 2008-2021 Mixed Bag Media Pvt. Ltd. Developed By PixelVJ

Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Name:*
Your email address:*
*
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

© 2008-2021 Mixed Bag Media Pvt. Ltd. Developed By PixelVJ