WhatsApp on-going educational campaign talks about creating awareness about spreading misinformation.

In light of recent lynchings and mob violence after the circulation of fake news on WhatsApp, it would seem that the Facebook-owned online messaging service is taking steps so that such incidents don't repeat themselves. The Indian government has ordered WhatsApp to set up a proper corporate entity as well as to install a grievance officer in India for addressing issues related to fake news and anything else that might crop up.

To that end, WhatsApp has started rolling out its five-chat forward limit for Indian users and also introduced a feature which includes a “Forwarded” label on messages that are forwarded. However, India has nearly 200 million WhatsApp users and controlling the dissemination of news can be a very challenging task indeed.

To educate Indian audiences, WhatsApp has started an educational campaign that talks about creating awareness about misinformation circulated on the platform. Through this radio campaign, WhatsApp is urging users to be cognisant of the messages they receive and to be mindful before forwarding.

Below are four Hindi audio clips which explain what to do when you encounter anything resembling fake news.

Article Published By: Mohammad Neyamat