WhatsApp has launched a 'Check the Facts' safety campaign to drive user awareness around its safety features and curb the spread of misinformation on the platform. The month-long campaign highlights the Meta-owned messaging platform's in-built product features, safety tools like block and report, and forward labels that equip users to spot misinformation and prevent its circulation. It encourages people to verify information that sounds suspicious or inaccurate via fact-checking organisations on WhatsApp Channels, according to a statement. "WhatsApp has launched an integrated safety campaign Check the Facts' in an effort to drive user awareness around WhatsApp's safety features and promote digital best practices that help prevent the spread of misinformation on the platform and empower people to take control of their messaging experience," it said. While there is no single action that can help prevent the spread of misinformation and fake news online, WhatsApp's 'Check the Facts' .
Meta-owned WhatsApp banned 71.1 lakh accounts during September in compliance with the IT rules, according to the latest India monthly report released by the popular messaging platform. Out of them, 25.7 lakh accounts were proactively banned before any reports from users. An Indian account is identified via the '+91' country code. "Between 1 September, 2023 and 30 September 2023, 71,11,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned. 25,71,000 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users," it said. The 'user-safety report' contains details of user complaints received and the corresponding action taken by WhatsApp as well as WhatsApp's own preventive actions to combat abuse on the platform. Between September 1-30, the platform received six orders from the Grievance Appellate Committee, according to the report, and all six orders were complied with. WhatsApp had banned 74 lakh accounts in August and out of them, 35 lakh accounts had been proactively banned. WhatsApp,
WhatsApp has this feature available for Photos and Videos, and the same is expected to roll out for Voice messages soon
Fair-share fee payment by large over-the-top players to telecom operators will enhance consumer experience with better quality networks without violating net neutrality principles, industry body COAI said on Wednesday. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents telecom operators like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel etc, said that it is a misguided view that fair share charge on large traffic generating (LTG) OTTs will violate net neutrality principles. "Payment of fair share fee by Large Traffic Generating OTTs to TSPs will eventually enhance customer satisfaction, as end-users will benefit via better network quality and improved services," COAI, Director General, SP Kochhar said in a statement. Meanwhile, industry body Broadband India Forum, which represents players in the broadband ecosystem, in its counter comment to the telecom regulator Trai has said that claim to mandate over-the-top (OTT) players to pay for network usage fees and the government's intent
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Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday said India is leading the world on how people and businesses have embraced messaging as a better way to get things done, as the social media giant unveiled a slew of new tools aimed at supercharging businesses using WhatsApp. Announcing the line-up of key offerings for WhatsApp, Zuckerberg said the company has continued to innovate with its messaging formats, group chats and broadcast channels. "India, (is) a country that's at the forefront of a lot of what we're going to talk about today. You're (India is) leading the world in terms of how people and businesses have embraced messaging as the better way to get things done. Zuckerberg said during a virtual address at Conversations event in Mumbai. The announcements included Meta verified badge for businesses, and expansion of payments service that will facilitate completion of purchases directly in the chat. Zuckerberg also spoke about WhatsApp Flows, which will give businesses the .
Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins Whatsapp Channel following conclusion of the first day in the new parliament building
The Indian Cricket team and Bollywood actors including Katrina Kaif, Diljit Dosanjh, Akshay Kumar, Vijay Deverakonda, Neha Kakkar launch their WhatsApp Channels
Along with India, Channels launched in 150 countries
The fake message being circulated on the internet said that the government has issued new guidelines to monitor WhatsApp messages of users
The modified interface of WhatsApp for iOS is being updated with a translucent tab, navigation bars, and a new sticker and GIF picker
Meta-owned, WhatsApp banned over 6.5 million accounts in India in the month of May 2023. The company took action to comply with the new IT Rules 2021
WhatsApp rivals like Telegram and Signal already have the 'edit' feature. On the other hand, Twitter rolled out this feature for select users last year
The users can change their message by long-press on a sent message and choose 'Edit' from the menu for up to fifteen minutes after sending it
It appears that there will be no upper limit on how many times a message can be edited. However, the option to edit a message may not be available after 15 minutes of a message being sent
WhatsApp responded to the minister's comments in a statement saying protecting the privacy and security of users is fundamental to Meta and to WhatsApp
This is in response to a Twitter engineer's claim that WhatsApp accessed the microphone of his smartphone when it was not in use
Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the Centre would investigate a claim that WhatsApp accessed a user's microphone without his knowledge
Users receive both audio and video calls from these phone numbers which mostly carry country codes belonging to Ethiopia, Morocco, and Swaziland, among others
Most WhatsApp users find it complex to transfer their data from their old phone to a new device since it involves backing up chat data to a Google Drive