Mob-lynching cases: IT minister Prasad demands accountability from WhatsApp
The government termed as "unacceptable" any misuse of WhatsApp to spread fake messages designed to "provoke" and "instigate" people and said finding technological solutions to detect such content cannot be "rocket science" for digital giants who reap benefits from the Indian market. A day after the government shot off a notice to WhatsApp over a spate of lynching incidents purportedly triggered by provocative messages circulating on the platform, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wednesday made it clear that WhatsApp - being the creator of the messaging platform - cannot absolve itself of its responsibility and accountability. "WhatsApp needs to recognise that India offers a huge market for them and they are making good money out of Indian operations. So they must focus on security aspect in India in particular, and if it requires creation of more avenues of technology for safety, they must do it soon," the minister said on the sidelines of a conference organised by Common Services Centres. Not mincing his words, Prasad said that detecting the en masse circulation of a particular message in one area and on a particular subject cannot be "rocket science" and asked WhatApp to take such instances seriously. "If in any state, any part, on a particular subject, if there is a circulation of large volumes of messages on WhatsApp, it is not rocket science that can't be discovered by application of technology," Prasad said. Rumours on WhatsApp have triggered a spate of incidents involving mob fury, the latest being lynching of five men on the suspicion of being child lifters in Maharashtra's Rainpada village of Dhule district. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology wrote to WhatsApp asking it to take urgent steps to prevent the circulation of false information and provocative content. Prasad said the government had taken note of the prompt response of WhatApp (to its notice) listing out the measures to deal with the issue, but added that the tech giant needs to follow it up with concrete action on ground. "If they've created platform, they have to ensure it is not misused. You can't say I have created it... What shall I do now...We have made it clear. You cannot evade accountability and responsibility. Abuse and misuse of your platform particularly leading to killing of innocent people is not acceptable," the minister said. The US-based social media platform in its response to IT Ministry's notice has said fake news, misinformation and hoaxes can be checked by the government, civil society and technology companies working together. Outlining steps, it has taken to curb abuse of its platform, WhatsApp -- in the response to the IT Ministry -- said it has the ability to prevent spam but since it cannot see the content of private messages, blocking can be done only based on user reports. Whatsapp also said it is "horrified by these terrible acts of violence" and its strategy to deal with the situation involves giving people the controls and information they need to stay safe, while working proactively to prevent misuse of the service. Prasad asserted that safety of Indians is "paramount" and the government is well aware of its "powers" to tackle any abuse. "(I) am not supposed to look into their defense...Safety of Indians is paramount and if there is misuse, we know our powers...," he said. The IT minister emphasised that India is emerging as a major digital power and offers a big market to WhatsApp and other tech companies. "We welcome companies like Whatapps, Facebook and Twitter to be a part of India's digital story and making commercial success...But they must remain accountable responsible and vigilant," Prasad said. Referring to WhatsApp's submission on many of the messages being individual and one-on-one communications, the minister said the platform should not ignore such cases either and that many of the issues can be handled with the application of technology. "I expect WhatsApp India operations to work closely with my department, Home Ministry and the state police apparatus (to deal with these issues)," he said. This is not the first time that the government has issued a warning to social media companies. Earlier this year, Prasad had warned social media platforms like Facebook of strong action if any attempt was made by them to influence the country's electoral process through undesirable means. Facebook is already facing severe backlash globally for improperly sharing personal data of up to 87 million people with UK-based Cambridge Analytica. India had, in March, issued notices to both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. Facebook had responded to that notice (over data breach) and outlined in detail the "changes made" to protect user information. PTI
