WhatsApp braces itself for world's biggest election; claims political parties in India abuse platform before polls

WhatsApp is working on deployment of several artificial intelligence (AI) tools to clean up its platform ahead of the 2019 polls.

WhatsApp also stated that several political parties in India have been abusing the services. (Image: AFP)

New Delhi: Social media is one of the most powerful weapons when it comes to influencing people and WhatsApp is one such platform that definitely has the capacity to do so, particularly in India. With over 200 million users across the country, WhatsApp has been on government’s radar in the backdrop of a spate of lynchings triggered last year by spreading of several fake messages through its platform. Now as India is inching closer towards the much crucial 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Facebook-owned instant messaging platform is bracing itself for the same. As per reports, WhatsApp is working on deployment of several artificial intelligence (AI) tools to clean up its platform ahead of the 2019 polls. According to a recent statement released by the company, WhatsApp is using AI tools to detect and ban accounts that spread ‘problematic content’ through mass messaging. However, the tech firm has also stated that several political parties in India have been abusing the services ahead of elections and the company has warned them not to do so. Though WhatsApp did not disclose the name of the political parties, there are speculations of several party workers abusing the platform by using automated tools for mass messaging or spread false news to sway voters. WhatsApp has been one favourite tool for several political parties who accuse each other spreading fake news on social media while denying they do so themselves. “We have seen a number of parties attempt to use WhatsApp in ways that it was not intended, and our firm message to them is that using it in that way will result in bans of our service,” news agency Reuters quoted WhatsApp’s head of communication Carl Woog as saying. Woog said that they had engaged with political parties to explain the company's view that the app was not a broadcast platform. “We are trying to be very clear going into the election that there is abuse on WhatsApp. We are working very hard to identify it and prevent it as soon as possible,” he added. For WhatsApp, the challenge to combat fake news on its platform is not just limited to India. Recently, the instant messaging platform was flooded with falsehoods and conspiracy theories ahead of the October election in Brazil, raising concerns that it was being used to distort the political debate.