WhatsApp not for public conversation: company

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - Officials at WhatsApp on Wednesday sought to clarify the messaging app is not for “public use,” in the run up to the general election in India.

Officials maintained WhatsApp will release a white paper to “ensure there is a clear understanding of how our systems work.

“[WhatsApp] maintains the private nature of its platform and would not like to become a platform for public conversations,” the Indian Express quoted Matt Jones of WhatsApp telling reporters in New Delhi.

India is the biggest market for WhatsApp with more than 200 million customers. But the app has faced widespread criticism for spread of false or fake news and messages aimed at swaying voters before elections. Indian voters will be electing a new federal government in May .

“WhatsApp was built for private messaging and is designed to share with people you know. It is also built to be data light and provides end-to-end encryption by default in one-on-one as well as group chats,” Jones said.

Another executive of the social media giant said WhatsApp has been “abused” by Indian political parties, another media report quoted WhatsApp official.

“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,” said Carl Woog, head of communications for WhatsApp. "We have engaged with political parties to tell them that we are not a broadcast platform and will block automated bulk behavior irrespective of the nature of the account," Tech Circle quoted Woog.

Woog said removing end-to-end encryption was not possible and WhatsApp would then “end up being a different product.”

Jones said WhatsApp was still used primarily for personal conversations and as much as 90 percent of chats are sent from one person to another.

“We actively try not to be used for public conversation,” he said. “We are not here to give people a megaphone.”

The official added the platform was using “machine learning” to crackdown on automated and bulk messaging, which clearly violates its terms of service.