WhatsApp to crack down on 'sinister' messages, says Indian government

Fast-spreading, fake stories have been blamed for deadly attacks

Revellers dressed up as dancers of 'Black Swan' check their mobile phones next to revellers dressed up as a Whatsapp logo as they take part in New Year's celebrations in Coin, near Malaga, southern Spain, early January 1, 2015 (REUTERS/Jon Nazca)

WhatsApp will stop "sinister" messages spreading across its platform, it has assured the Indian govenment.

The company is going to develop tools to combat the deadly problem of fake messages, according to its information technology minister.

In recent months, terrifying texts describing false news and hoaxes have spread quickly across the app. Despite not being true, they have regularly contributed towards deadly killings and other attacks, leading to a crackdown from the Indian government.

WhatsApp chief executive officer Chris Daniels met India's IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday, assuring the government of a solution.

Prasad told reporters he had asked WhatsApp to develop a detailed mechanism to trace the origin of any such "sinister" messages.

"It does not need rocket science to locate a message," Prasad said after his meeting, adding that WhatsApp had said it was working with law enforcement agencies to develop its systems.

A Facebook spokeswoman in India did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

India is WhatsApp's biggest market with more than 200 million users and one where it says people forward more messages, photographs and videos than any other country.

There are also concerns that supporters of political parties could use social media platforms such as WhatsApp to spread false messages in the run-up to India's national elections in 2019.

Following calls from the government to stem the platform's misuse, WhatsApp has moved to deter mass message forwards and launched an advertising campaign to educate consumers.

In July, WhatsApp said message forwards will be limited to five chats at a time, whether among individuals or groups, and said it will remove the quick forward button placed next to media messages.

Additional reporting by Reuters