India Requests Blocking of Social Media Platforms

In New Delhi, the Government of India is requesting telecom operators to block access to Facebook and Whatsapp in the event of its misuse. This move follows months of India’s tireless efforts to curb mass messages forwarded by social media users in spreading rumors.

Whatsapp, a messaging platform, particularly came under attack after it was used to forward provoking messages to incite anger that caused violence in the country. Whatsapp in India is used in sharing more messages and contents than any other country. Whatsapp in response to the requests from government, announced that, the quick forward button would be removed and message forwards would be limited to one chat at a time.

Facebook, a social media platform, came under scrutiny by the Indian officials who claimed Indian users were involved in the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data-breach scandal some months ago.