Chris Daniels, the CEO of communication giant WhatsApp and Shivnath Thukral, the Head of the Public Policy Division of Facebook India on Thursday called on Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao in Hyderabad.
"During the meeting, the Minister pitched the case of Hyderabad for setting up a customer service operations center of WhatsApp. Chris Daniels responded positively to Minister Rama Rao’s request," a statement from KTR's office said.
Principal IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan and Konatham Dileep, Director Digital Media, Information Technology, Electronics & Communications Department, also participated in the meeting.
CEO Chris Daniels is presently on a short trip to India, in an attempt to tackle false messages and rumours which were circulating on WhatsApp and resulted in multiple instances of mobs lynching people on the suspicion that they were members of child lifting gangs.
The WhatsApp CEO earlier this week with met with Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who told the company that the government demanded that WhatsApp set up a physical office in India with a responsible person to handle issues immediately. This is a requirement raised from the point of view of the WhatsApp Pay service as well.
Another concern came from the Election Commission which has received complaints that WhatsApp is being misused during elections to spread false rumors and thereby influencing the electioneering process. WhatsApp has assured the EC that this will not be allowed to happen.
Separately, WhatsApp is trying to mount a massive public awareness campaign in the country to educate the users of its messaging service on the do’s and don’ts to avoid any such untoward incidents in future.
Read: