WhatsApp Expands India Radio Campaign Against Fake News to 10 More States

From limiting message forwarding, publishing paper ads and introducing a reward program to flagging harmful links and developing a digital literacy programme, WhatsApp is taking every step when it comes to curbing the spread of fake news, or at least keeping people informed.

Stepping up the crackdown efforts, WhatsApp has now kicked off the second phase of its radio advertizement entrada meant to raise sensation nigh fake news and teach the audience some of the most common ways to discover wrong information beingness spread on its platform.

The second stage of WhatsApp'due south faux news ad campaign starts today across 83 All Bharat Radio (AIR) stations and has been expanded to ten more states, afterward the first stage was kickstarted on August 29th beyond 7 Indian states. WhatsApp claims that the ads take been created in an ' easy-to-understand format'in society to assistance users spot fake data and make them enlightened of the risks posed by such content.

WhatsApp stands committed in its efforts to accost these issues jointly with civil order, stakeholders and the authorities.

The 2d phase of WhatsApp's radio advert entrada against fake news will be aired starting today in Assam, Tripura, Due west Bengal, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The ads volition be aired in 8 regional languages which include Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu, Oriya, Bengali, Assamese and Tamil for xv days. "Our goal is to aid go on people safe past creating greater sensation about fake news and empowering users to help limit its spread", WhatsApp's Public Policy Managing director, Ben Supple said.

The radio ads highlight aspects such as forwarded messages and how they tin be used to spread imitation news and incendiary content to a larger section of the masses. Moreover, the ads tell users to verify information, photos and videos that seem too unbelievable or inexplicable before sharing it with others.