the "repeated circulation of such provocative content" and that it had “deep disapproval” of the firm allowing rumours to spread. It also called messages spread on WhatsApp "fake", "sensational" and claimed the spread of false information was a "menace".

Following criticism, WhatsApp has limited message forwarding in India to five contacts at a time. It has also paid for print and radio advertising campaigns focussed on the risks of fake news. Senior officials, including CEO Chris Daniels have visited India and the Facebook-owned company has hired a US-based grievance officer to handle complaints from the 200m users in India. A help page, which is only available within the country, includes the contact details of a WhatsApp grievance officer to contact if people have questions about their accounts. Separate guidancethe Centre for Internet & Society details the impact internet shutdowns have had on individuals. The research was co-funded by Facebook and calls many of the internet shutdowns around India "ill-intentioned" and "ill-informed".

Facebook’s research division has offered grants to researchers who may be able to help it solve its WhatsApp misinformation problem. The scheme, which specifically mentions India, is looking for ways to understand what is being shared on the platform without breaking encryption. WhatsApp is currently reviewing proposals and plans to issue grants for the research in the coming weeks.

Such efforts are unlikely to cause an immediate decline in internet shutdowns in India. "Google and Facebook and WhatsApp and some of the other messenger platforms have to do a lot more as intermediaries than they were doing