Hyderabad: Facebook-owned WhatsApp has appointed a grievance officer in an effort to address the spread of misinformation on the social messaging site.
WhatsApp placed an update in its FAQ section mentioning the appointment of the grievance officer, Ms Komal Lahiri, along with the email Id.
This measure is specific to Indian users. However, Ms Lahiri is based out of the US. The website said in its update, “You can contact the grievance officer with complaints or concerns, including the WhatsApp’s Terms of Service and Questions about your account.”
WhatsApp has its biggest user base in India with more than 200 million users.
The service had come under criticism for failing to address the spread of fake news which had resulted, among others, in mob lynching.
According to WhatsApp, “If you have a concern regarding the usage of WhatsApp or the processing of your information, we recommend that you review our Help Center. If you would like to contact us, go to WhatsApp Settings > Help > Contact Us. We can better assist you if you contact us through WhatsApp.”
In order to curb the spread of misinformation, it has limited message forwards to five chats at a time and removed the quick forward button placed next to media messages.
