WhatsApp Requested to Delay Launch of Communities Feature in Brazil Till January

WhatsApp agreed in April to postpone the launch of the new platform until after the end of October.

WhatsApp Requested to Delay Launch of Communities Feature in Brazil Till January

Photo Credit: WhatsApp

WhatsApp is reportedly installed on 99 percent of the smartphones in Brazil

Highlights
  • WhatsApp have been asked to delay to avoid the spread of fake news
  • This is reportedly one of the most polarized Brazilian election decades
  • WhatsApp used by supporters of President Bolsonaro to organise rallies
Advertisement

Brazilian prosecutors on Friday called on messaging platform WhatsApp to delay the launch in Brazil of its new feature called Communities until January to avoid the spread of fake news during and immediately after the country's election in October.

The federal prosecutors said the expanded reach of the new tool comes "at a time when fake news about the functioning of institutions and the integrity of the Brazilian voting system could jeopardize the democratic stability of the country."

The MPF, as the federal prosecutors office is known, said Communities could undermine the efficient steps taken by WhatsApp in recent years to contain the spread of fake news.

WhatsApp is one of the messaging platforms that supporters of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro most use to communicate, organize rallies, and divulge their views. Bolsonaro is seeking re-election but is trailing leftist former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil's most polarized election in decades.

The messaging service owned by Meta agreed in April to postpone the launch of the new platform until after an expected second-round run-off vote at the end of October.

But the MPF said in a statement this was not enough to mitigate the "serious risks that an increase in disinformation can generate ... in the last two months of the year."

A WhatsApp spokesperson said the company will continue to carefully evaluate the best time to launch the new platform and would duly reply to the authorities' request.

The MPF said WhatsApp is installed on 99 percent of the smartphones in Brazil.

The new feature would expand the number of users from 256 at present to 512, allowing messages to be sent to 2,560 people at once. This would increase users' ability to viralize content, the MPF said.

The prosecutors noted WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption prevents those responsible for the platform from monitoring and moderating the content of the messages exchanged on it.

© Thomson Reuters 2022


Why is Oppo making strange choices with its flagship Reno series? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.
Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: WhatsApp, Meta
Meta's Facebook May Face Suspension in Kenya as It Fails Another Hate Speech Detection Test
Share on Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat Share Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News
 
 

Advertisement

Follow Us

Advertisement

© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »