WhatsApp starts rolling out feature to simultaneously connect with 32 users on voice, video calls
Instant messaging platform WhatsApp users will be able to connect with up to 32 connections simultaneously on voice and video calls, transfer up to 2GB files and add up to 1,024 members in a group, the company said on Thursday.
Besides, Whatsapp users will be able to broadcast messages to up to 5,000 users, who are part of their community and participate in polls, the company said, ”Today, we’re launching Communities on WhatsApp. It makes groups better by enabling sub-groups, multiple threads, announcement channels, and more. We’re also rolling out polls and 32-person video calling too. All secured by end-to-end encryption so your messages stay private,” Meta Founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg said on Facebook.
The company announced the feature in April and has started rolling them now, which will be gradually available to all users in the next few weeks. The Meta-owned platform is rolling out in-chat polls and will allow file transfer of up to 2GB files, which was limited to up to 16 MB earlier.
”WhatsApp is also releasing three more features: the ability to create in-chat polls, 32-person video calling, and groups with up to 1,024 users. Just like emoji reactions, larger file sharing, and admin delete, these features can be used in any group but will be particularly helpful for Communities,” the company said.Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Almost 30% of MHA’s takedown notices to X target posts on Union Ministers, govt agencies: Report
New Delhi: In a significant revelation, nearly 30% of the 66 takedown notices sent by the Ministry of Home Affairs' Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to X (formerly Twitter) over the past year have warned the platform to remove content involving Union Ministers and Central government agencies.
According to court records obtained by The Hindu from the Delhi High Court and the Karnataka High Court, these notices primarily focus on posts about popular leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and his son Jay Shah, as well as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar.
The report, published on Sunday, revealed that in the past year, the government has issued notices to social media and messaging platforms — including X, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — requesting the removal of over 1.1 lakh pieces of content. These requests were made to address various categories of "unlawful information," such as deepfakes, child sexual abuse material, financial frauds, and "misleading and false information." The content targeted for removal includes posts from political parties, news organisations, and individual users both in India and globally.
One such incident involved AI-generated images targeting Jay Shah in a derogatory light alongside Kavya Maran, the owner of the Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL team. The I4C flagged the content as a deliberate attempt to defame prominent officials through the misuse of technology. One of the two posts was a fact check debunking the visual, and was not removed by X, while the other was deleted by the user themselves, the report mentioned.
X has also received notices to take down content critical of the Home Ministry’s leadership. In one notice in December, X was notified about 54 posts linking to a manipulated video clip of Amit Shah purporting to show an anti-reservation stance.
Another request involved a post featuring Prime Minister Modi, which referenced a promise to “give the country an account every five years.” The government sought its removal, although the post appears to have been deleted by the user.
Beyond these high-profile cases, the I4C has also issued routine notices. These include takedowns of fraudulent accounts imitating the Cyber Dost helpline and content inciting religious hatred against both Hindus and Muslims.
For nearly two years, these takedown notices remained undisclosed after X ceased publishing details of government requests in April 2023. However, the ongoing legal battle between X and the Union government has brought these details to light, The Hindu added.
At the center of this legal conflict is the SAHYOG portal, which allows law enforcement agencies to send notices under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. X has raised concerns, calling it a “censorship portal” and arguing that it is a circumvention of legal safeguards against censorship in a different section of the same law. The Union government, however, maintains that the notices are not blocking orders but rather serve as warnings to social media platforms about potential liability for unlawful content.
A police official with access to the SAHYOG portal told the news outlet that the system is still in its trial phase, with only a small percentage of notices leading to actual takedown actions. The majority of law enforcement agencies continue to prefer submitting requests directly to platforms instead of going through the SAHYOG portal.
