WhatsApp has finally woken up from its slumber.
It has begun a campaign--Khushiyaan baantiye, Afwaahein nahin.
If translated from Urdu to English, it says--spread happiness, not falsehoods.
After rumours and false propaganda was spread on this platform for long, it has apparently bowed to pressure.
Government of India had also asked it to contain the spread of hate and rumours that resulted in incidents of lynchings.
The rumours about cow or gangs on the prowl to abduct kids, had led to attacks, lynchings and even deaths.
A techie was killed in Karnataka. In fact, many other such serious incidents of law-and-order failure took place because of WhatsApp and the rumours spread through the platform.
Inside WhatsApp groups, people share content with like minded people or friends-families. Apart from Facebook, it is another major platform that can let any content go viral within a few hours.
Hence, there is need for more responsibility on part of WhatsApp. It has taken it years for the social media giant to run such an advertisement campaign. Now it is on TV and is also visible at other places.
Quite late. Had they been vigilant earlier, it may have saved lives. If people are aware that they may be caught, they are more cautious. In fact, WhatsApp need to do even more and be strict with people who spread false messages and share fake news.
