WhatsApp unveils 'tipline' to tackle fake news
New Delhi: WhatsApp Tuesday unveiled its 'Checkpoint Tipline', where people can check the authenticity of information received as the messaging giant looks to crack down on fake news ahead of the general election in the country.
"Launched by PROTO, an India-based media skilling startup, this tipline will help create a database of rumours to study misinformation during elections for Checkpoint - a research project commissioned and technically assisted by WhatsApp," the Facebook-owned company said in a statement.
It added that starting Tuesday, people in India can submit misinformation or rumours they receive to the Checkpoint Tipline on WhatsApp (+91-9643-000-888).
Once a WhatsApp user shares a suspicious message with the tipline, PROTO's verification centre will seek to respond and inform the user if the claim made in message shared is verified or not.
"The response will indicate if information is classified as true, false, misleading, disputed or out of scope and include any other related information that is available," the statement said.
This centre is equipped to review content in the form of pictures, video links or text and will cover English and four regional languages - Hindi, Telugu, Bengali and Malayalam.
PROTO will also look at working with organisations at grassroot level to submit misinformation circulating across different regions in India during the election period.
Facebook, which counts India as one of its largest markets with over 200 million users, had faced flak from the Indian government after a series of mob-lynching incidents, triggered by rumours circulating on WhatsApp, claimed lives last year.
Under pressure to stop rumours and fake news, WhatsApp had last year restricted forwarding messages to five chats at once. It has also been putting out advertisements in newspapers and running television and radio campaigns offering tips to users on how to spot misinformation.
With ensuing general elections, the Indian government had warned social media platforms of strong action if any attempt was made to influence the country's electoral process through undesirable means.
Interestingly, the Indian government through proposed changes in IT rules is seeking to make social media platforms more accountable by mandating them to introduce tools that can identify and disable "unlawful content".
One of the amendments being mulled in the IT intermediary rules (meant for online and social media platforms) will require them to enable tracing out of such originators of information as needed by government agencies that are legally authorised.
However, WhatsApp has so far resisted the government's demand for identifying message originators, arguing that such a move would undermine the end-to-end encryption and the private nature of the platform, creating potential for serious misuse.
In its statement on Tuesday, WhatsApp said Dig Deeper Media and Meedan - which have previously worked on misinformation-related projects around the world - are helping PROTO to develop the verification and research frameworks for India.
Meedan has developed the technology to support the verification of rumours and will maintain the database of such content that have been processed.
To do so, they have expanded their check platform (developed for recent elections in Mexico and France) and integrated it with the WhatsApp Business API, to receive and respond to messages at scale.
"The goal of this project is to study the misinformation phenomenon at scale natively in WhatsApp. As more data flows in, we will be able to identify the most susceptible or affected issues, locations, languages, regions, and more," PROTO founders Ritvvij Parrikh and Nasr ul Hadi said.
The verification reports PROTO sends back will encourage grassroots-level "listening posts" to send more signals for analysis, they added.
Following the project, PROTO also plans to submit learnings to the International Center for Journalists to help other organisations learn from the design and operations of this project.
"The research from this initiative will help create a global benchmarks for those wishing to tackle misinformation in their own markets," Fergus Bell, founder and CEO, Dig Deeper Media, said.
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Nepal records 18% turnout till noon in first election since govt-toppling Gen Z protests
Kathmandu (PTI): Nepal which went to polls on Thursday, the first since a violent Gen Z protest that toppled the K P Sharma Oli-led government last year, recorded a turnout of about 18 per cent till noon, according to the Election Commission.
The Election Commission said that around 3.16 million people have exercised their franchise till 12 pm, with the voting process going smoothly.
Voting is ongoing smoothly across the country with minor incidents in a very few places, Election Commissioner Sagun Shumsher Rana was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post.
More than 18.9 million eligible Nepalese are exercising their franchise to elect the 275-member House of Representatives from among the 3,406 candidates vying for 165 seats under direct voting, and 3,135 candidates vying for 110 seats through proportionate voting.
The voting started at 7 am and will conclude at 5 pm. The counting will start immediately after the ballot boxes are collected.
Nepal Police confirmed that apart from minor disagreements at a few locations, no serious problems had occurred.
Police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle said, “Some jostling is expected during elections, but no major issues have arisen. We are ensuring that the voting process remains peaceful throughout the day.”
"Voting started in all the constituencies, including the southern plains, hilly area and the mountain region at 7 am," Election Commission spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said.
“The election started in a peaceful environment across the country,” he added.
ALSO READ: Nepal records over 10% turnout till 11 am in first election since govt-toppling Gen Z protests
Addressing a press meet here on the eve of the polls, Acting Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari on Wednesday had said that all preparations for the election had been completed and urged voters to participate actively and enthusiastically in the democratic exercise.
In Kathmandu, the weather was fine, sky was clear and people were enthusiastically queuing up to cast their votes.
Interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki cast her vote from Kathmandu-5 constituency at Dhapasi on the outskirts of Kathmandu on Thursday morning.
"I have cast my vote, I am happy that people are casting their votes, participating in the general election," she said.
Nepali Congress president Gagan Thapa cast his vote from Kathmandu-4 constituency in Maitidevi in the morning.
"This election was needed to bring the Constitution back on the right track," he said.
Thapa, the prime ministerial candidate of Nepali Congress, is contesting the election from Dhanusha-4 constituency.
Rastriya Swotantra Party (RSP) president Ravi Lamichhane cast his vote from Chuchepati area on the outskirts of Kathmandu.
Prime ministerial candidate of RSP and former Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah ‘Balen’ cast his vote from Gairegaun, Kathmandu. He is contesting the election from Jhapa-5.
Ousted premier Oli cast his vote from Balkot in Bhaktapur district.
The Gen Z youth, through their two-day intensified protests on September 8 and 9, ousted Prime Minister Oli, chair of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) -- CPN-UML -- who was heading a coalition government with the backing of Nepali Congress that enjoyed nearly two-thirds majority support.
The CPN-UML, led by ousted PM Oli, has emerged as the hardliner force. Though former premier Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'-led NCP claims to have addressed the issues raised by the Gen Z, they have not handed over the party leadership to the younger generation.
Rastriya Swotantra Party (RSP), led by its chair Ravi Lamichhane and senior leader Balendra Shah, and the reformed Nepali Congress, led by Gagan Thapa, are voicing the issues raised by the Gen Z, while CPN-UML and Nepali Communist Party, led by ‘Prachanda’, are known as the traditional forces.
Ujyalo Nepal Party, led by Kulman Ghising, and Shram Shakti Party, led by former Dharan Mayor Harka Sampang, are also emerging forces but enjoy support in limited pockets only.
After Oli's ouster, President Ramchandra Paudel dissolved the House of Representatives on September 12 and appointed Sushila Karki as the caretaker PM.
The major issues raised by Gen Z are anti-corruption, good governance, an end to nepotism, generational change in political leadership, etc.
Starting Wednesday, Nepal has declared a three-day holiday for the polls.
There are a total of 10,967 polling booths and 23,112 polling centres, the Election Commission data showed. As many as 65 political parties are taking part in the election.
