Calling WhatsApp on the distortions in the country’s map, the minister also warned that “all platforms doing business in India and/or wanting to continue doing business in India must use correct maps”.

“Dear @WhatsApp – Request that you fix the India map error ASAP,” Chandrasekhar tweeted after the meta-owned messaging platform posted a New Year’s tweet that showed an incorrect map of India.

Dear @Whatsapp – Please fix the India map error as soon as possible.

All platforms doing business in India and/or wanting to continue doing business in India must use correct cards. @GoI_MeitY @metaindia https://t.co/aGnblNDctK

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) December 31, 2022

WhatsApp’s video post over a New Year’s Eve livestream showed the globe showing a wrong map of India jammu and cashmere.

WhatsApp deleted the tweet after it was flagged by the minister.

“Thank you Minister for pointing out the unintentional error; We immediately removed the stream, sorry. We will be vigilant going forward,” WhatsApp tweeted.

Thanks Minister for pointing out the unintentional error; We immediately removed the stream, sorry. We will pay attention to that in the future.

– whatsapp whatsapp) December 31, 2022

Chandrasekhar earlier this week also warned video-call company Zoom founder and chief executive officer Eric Yuan about a fake map of India.

“You may want to make sure you are using correct maps of the countries you do/intend to do business in,” the minister tweeted on December 28. Yuan later deleted the tweet in question.

In June 2021, the microblogging platform Twitter itself was heavily criticized for displaying a distorted map of India. Twitter removed the wrong card after facing online backlash.

Major social media platforms have in the past drawn criticism for hate speech, misinformation and fake news circulating on their platforms.

The government introduced strict rules for social media platforms last year to make them more accountable to end users in one of the world’s largest internet markets. The 2021 rules will require social media companies to take down controversial content more quickly, appoint complaints officers and help with investigations.

The IT rules were further tightened in October 2022 to pave the way for the formation of centre-appointed panels to resolve often-ignored user complaints about the way social media platforms handle their complaints regarding content and other matters have been addressed.

Put simply, these appellate bodies will be able to review content moderation decisions by social media companies like Meta and Twitter, and override decisions by big tech companies about takedown or ban requests. The government had said the move was necessary due to digital platforms’ “casual” and “tokenism” approach to user complaints.

In particular, the newly changed IT regulations also oblige social media companies to make every effort to prevent blocked content and misinformation, and the government has made it clear that platforms like Twitter and Facebook Operation in India must comply with local laws and constitutional rights of Indian users.