J&K's Kishtwar orders WhatsApp group admins to register forums to fight fake news; activists unconvinced

Kishtwar: To create a WhatsApp group without any objection, one only needs a smartphone. But this might just change in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district. Last week, District Magistrate Angrez Singh Rana issued an order asking admins of all WhatsApp groups to register the existing ones within 10 days and new admins to seek registration before creating groups to avoid facing penal action under the Information Technology Act, Ranbir Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other relevant laws. Rana, who is also the deputy commissioner of police, said the decision was made to clamp down on certain rumour-mongering groups in the area. “The police informed me that some WhatsApp groups operating from this district were spreading rumours, which led to law and order problems here in the past,” he said, adding that the 29 June order would help put a “check” on such groups. [caption id=“attachment_4479303” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] WhatsApp[/caption] Currently, Jammu and Kashmir does not have any law under which people need to get their social media accounts, including WhatsApp groups, registered by any authority. The district magistrate’s notification also mentioned that admins can only add people they know personally to the group and must also report to the nearest police station any objectionable content shared on the group, failing which they will face action. “Group admins will be held responsible for all content uploaded on their group,” the order said. What about groups operating from outside Kishtwar? Activists, social media users and journalists in the region have said the order “gags” their freedom of speech. Sohail Ahmed, the admin of a WhatsApp group named “Kishtwar Update”, believes that the move will only harass users of the app. “It is the collective duty of all stakeholders to fight the menace of fake news. But in the garb of fighting this threat, the administration cannot force every group admin to get their groups registered. How will they know how many groups are being operated from Kishtwar?” he asked. Another WhatsApp user, who requested anonymity, raised a pertinent question: “ How will the administration act against the groups being operated from other parts of the state or country?” The government, however, is confident that its plan to “monitor the content” of Kishtwar-based groups is foolproof. “We managed to get two or three participants of our own in every WhatsApp group. They will keep an eye on the content and inform the authorities about it,” Rana said. When asked whether such a move would help control the spread of rumours in the district and stop the spread of fake news, Rana said the administration’s order to have WhatsApp groups and social media pages registered is a chance for such people to “mend their ways” before they are taken to task by the law. “The main idea is to get responsible citizens registered with us so we can keep a check on the groups of which they are the admins,” Abrar Choudhary, senior superintendent of Kishtwar Police, said, adding that the step was taken to tackle the increase in the spread of rumours. By implementing the order, Choudhary said the administration aimed to stop the “re-branding of terrorists”, which had become the trend in the district. “Since Kishtwar is a communally-sensitive district where a neglected spark can burn the house down, the administration is trying its best to keep things under control. We are in regular touch with a Facebook team, which also helps us in various cases registered under the IT Act,” he said. No consultations with information department The state information department said it had no knowledge of any such order, and that the district administration had not discussed the matter with it. “No discussions were held with our department to decide on the registration of WhatsApp groups. We have yet to notify any empanelment policy for the registration of online news portals,” said Tariq Ahmad Zargar, director (information). This is not the first time the administration has taken such measures to control the spread of rumours . On 20 April, 2016, the then district magistrate of Kupwara, R Ranjan, had issue a similar order to curb the misuse of WhatsApp in the district. Ranjan had also appointed an officer to head the Social Media Centre set up to register WhatsApp groups operating out of Kupwara. The order became a source of major embarrassment for the district administration as not a single group admin had turned up to register their WhatsApp group. The current deputy commissioner of Kupwara, Khalid Jahangir, said he was unaware of any such order and had no idea how many people had registered so far. Jammu-based RTI activist Rohit Chaudhary said the Kishtwar administration’s order on the registration of WhatsApp groups interfered with people’s freedom of speech. “WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption itself ensures that nobody gets to read the messages shared apart from the receiver, so the administration should let us know how they intend to monitor or oversee the communication that goes on over the messaging platform. The government should use other methods to keep a check on the spread of rumours and fake news, rather than targeting social media,” Chaudhary said. While not everyone is in favour of this step to tackle fake news and rumours, concerns over the spread of misinformation are valid. In 2013, three people were killed and many were injured in violent clashes in Kishtwar after a few WhatsApp messages alleged that pro-Pakistan slogans had been raised during an Eid procession. The protective service officer of a local BJP leader, Sunil Sharma, was accused of being involved. Rumours spread using social media have led to a series of lynchings across the country, causing the government to sit up and take notice . On 3 July, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued a statement, asking WhatsApp to take measures to tackle fake news and rumours being propagated using its platform. In return, WhatsApp said it has been testing ways to curb the problem. The Facebook-owned messaging service also announced research grants for those who could help curb the spread of misinformation on online platforms. The author is a Jammu-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com_, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters._