WhatsApp rolls out second phase of radio ad campaign in India
New Delhi, Sep 5 : After being pulled up by the government to take concrete steps to stop the spread of misinformation and fake news on its platform, Facebook-owned WhatsApp on Wednesday said it has launched the second phase of its radio ad campaign in the country to create awareness and empower users.
The first phase of the educational campaign was kicked off on August 29 with ads across 46 radio stations of All India Radio (AIR) in states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
The second phase of the campaign started on Wednesday on September 5 with radio ads across 83 AIR radio stations in Assam, Tripura, West Bengal, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Orissa and Tamil Nadu.
These campaigns will run in eight regional languages -- Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu, Oriya and Tamil -- for a 15-day duration, WhatsApp said in a statement.
The campaign has been designed in an easy to understand format to help user's spot misinformation and further sensitize them about the challenges of fake news and addressing these as a society.
"WhatsApp stands committed in its efforts to address these issues jointly with civil society, stakeholders and the government," the company said.
These radio campaign highlights tips like understand when a message is "forwarded"; check information that seems unbelievable and photos carefully; question information that upsets you and be thoughtful about what you share.
WhatsApp has also roped in New Delhi-based non-profit Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) to create awareness among its users about the need to verify information.
"Our goal is to help keep people safe by creating greater awareness about fake news and empowering users to help limit its spread," Ben Supple, Public Policy Manager at WhatsApp, said in a statement.
As part of the new partnership with WhatsApp, DEF has committed to holding 40 training sessions for community leaders in 10 states across the country where there have been worrisome cases of violence and where there will be state polls before the end of the year.
In a meeting with WhatsApp CEO Chris Daniels on August 21, Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad instructed the Facebook-owned platform to comply with the law of the land and take "suitable" steps to prevent its misuse.
The meeting took place after several lynching incidents were linked to the spread of misinformation on the instant messaging platform which has over 200 million monthly active users in India.
WhatsApp has also taken some technological measures to curb the problem of disinformation, including the introduction of the "forwarded" tag and limiting forwarding to five chats at once.
"In addition to the steps we are taking within WhatsApp, we believe impacting lives through the power of education is critical to helping achieve the vision of a 'Digital India'," Supple added.
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Delhi Police files 877-page chargesheet in Janakpuri pit death case
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has filed an 877-page chargesheet in the Janakpuri pit death case, naming three accused and detailing alleged lapses linked to the execution of a construction project, an official said on Thursday.
The chargesheet was submitted before a court on April 7, said police, adding that the case was registered on February 6.
According to a police statement, the accused are Himanshu Gupta (45), a suspended director of the main contractor company, KKSPUN Private Limited, Rajesh Kumar (47), a sub-contractor associated with the project and Yogesh (23), a labourer deployed at the site.
The accident took place on the night of February 5 when Kamal Dhyani, a resident of Kailashpuri, was returning home from his office in Rohini and fell into a 15-foot-deep pit dug by the Delhi Jal Board in the Janakpuri area.
A police officer said the deceased worked at a call centre for a private bank.
The chargesheet includes detailed findings on the role and responsibilities of the accused persons, contractual arrangements, and on-site conditions and coordinations at the time of the incident.
Police said the probe examined multiple aspects, including compliance with safety norms, labour deployment, and execution practices adopted during the course of the work.
Statements of witnesses, technical assessments, and documentary evidence form part of the voluminous chargesheet, the officer said.
Himanshu Gupta, as a senior functionary of the contracting firm, was alleged to be responsible for overall supervision and ensuring adherence to safety protocols, while Rajesh Kumar, the sub-contractor, allegedly handled execution at the ground level.
Yogesh, a worker engaged at the site, has also been named in the incident.
Officials said the investigation into the role of other suspected people is still underway, and a supplementary chargesheet will be filed upon completion of the probe. Further investigation is underway.
