Why did WhatsApp say 'sorry' to IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar?

 

• WhatsApp shared a live stream link on New Year's Eve. However, the link contained an incorrect map of India.

In a first of its kind situation, Meta-owned WhatsApp has apologized to IT Minister Rajiv Chandrasekhar after tweeting an incorrect map of India. The instant messaging platform shared a live stream link on New Year's Eve. However, the link contained an incorrect map of India.

Tagging WhatsApp in a Twitter post, the IT minister asked it to fix the error immediately.

“Dear @WhatsApp - Rqst that you fix the India map error asap. All platforms that do business in India and/or want to continue doing business in India should use the correct maps," the minister wrote in his tweet.

WhatsApp fixed the error and removed the stream. It also removed the tweet containing the wrong map of India. “Thank you Minister for pointing out the unintended error; We've removed the stream immediately, apologies. We'll be careful in the future," the company tweeted.

This is the second time Rajeev Chandrasekhar has warned a firm for using a wrong map of India. Earlier this week, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan was given a similar warning after he tweeted a video that incorrectly represented the Indian map. "You want to make sure you use the correct maps for the countries you want to do business in," Chandrasekhar wrote in a tweet tagging the CEO of Zoom.

The tweet was later deleted by Yuan who wrote "I recently deleted a tweet in which many of you pointed out that there were problems with the map. Thanks for responding!!".

Meanwhile, the social messaging platform is reportedly working on a feature that will allow users to report status updates in the future. According to a report by WABetaInfo, the alleged feature will allow users to report status updates in a new menu in the status section. For those who are unaware, WaBetaInfo is an online platform that tracks the new and upcoming features of WhatsApp.

Reportedly, if a WhatsApp user finds a suspicious status update that violates the terms of service, users will have the option to report it to the team. This feature is currently under development and may be rolled out on WhatsApp Desktop Beta soon.