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WhatsApp Launches Media Blitz to Dispel India's Fake News Woes

WhatsApp Launches Media Blitz to Dispel India's Fake News Woes 2m576y

By Reuters | Updated: 10 July 2018 15:04 IST

Photo Credit: AFP 2ip5i

A newspaper vendor reading a newspaper with a full back page ment from WhatsApp

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Facebook's WhatsApp messaging platform on Tuesday published ments in key Indian newspapers to tackle the spread of misinformation, its first such effort to combat a flurry of fake messages that prompted mob lynchings.

Beatings and deaths triggered by false incendiary messages in India, WhatsApp's biggest market with more than 200 million s, caused a public relations nightmare, sparking calls from authorities for immediate action.

"Together we can fight false information," read full-page ments in some top English language-newspapers, part of a series that will also feature in regional-language dailies.

It urged s to check information before sharing it and cautioned them about the spread of fake news.

"We are starting an education campaign in India on how to spot fake news and rumours," a WhatsApp spokesman said in a statement.

"Our first step is placing newspaper ments in English and Hindi and several other languages. We will build on these efforts."

During the week, it aims to publish similar ments in regional dailies across India, from the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan in the west to the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh in the north, it added.

WhatsApp has previously said it is tweaking features and giving s controls in its effort to rein in false messages.

It is also testing the labelling of messages to show s when a message received is just a forward, rather than one created by the sender.

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