WhatsApp, a rival messaging platform, introduced some measures to counter disinformation when Covid-19 was first sweeping the world. Individual messages can be fully encrypted. But the user has to turn on that function. It's not automatic, as it is on Signal and WhatsApp. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had carried out a similar exercise in 2017 in a matter related to circulation of messages through WhatsApp. False news often spreads via public groups, or chats, with potentially fatal effects. "He has kind of an old-school cyber-libertarian world view where technology is there to set you free," Maréchal said.
from ar
