WhatsApp shared a live stream link on the eve of new year. The link, however, had the wrong map of India.
In a one-of-its-kind situation, Meta-owned WhatsApp had apologized to IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar after it tweeted wrong map of India. The instant messaging platform shared a live stream link on the eve of new year. The link, however, had the wrong map of India.
Tagging WhatsApp in a Twitter post, the IT Minister asked it to fix the error immediately.
“Dear @WhatsApp – Request that u pls fix the India map error asap. All platforms that do business in India and/or want to continue to do business in India , must use correct maps,” the minister wrote in his tweet.
WhatsApp fixed the error and took down the stream. It also deleted the tweet with the wrong map of India. “Thank you Minister for pointing out the unintended error; we have promptly removed the stream, apologies. We will be mindful in the future,” the company tweeted.
This is the second time Rajeev Chandrasekhar has warned a firm using the wrong map of India. Earlier this week, a similar warning was given to Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, after he tweeted a video that wrongly represented the Indian map. “You may want to make sure u use correct maps of the countries u do / want to do business in,” Chandrasekhar wrote in a tweet tagging Zoom CEO.
The tweet was later removed by Yuan who wrote “I recently took down a tweet that many of you had pointed out had issues with the map. Thank you for the feedback!!”.
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 would let users report a status update within a new menu in the status section. For those unaware, WaBetaInfo is an online platform that tracks new and upcoming features of WhatsApp.
WhatsApp has apologised for putting up a distorted map of India, after the Meta-owned platform was called out by Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who made it clear any platform with business in the country will have to use correct maps.
The instant messaging service also took down the wrong graphic.
“Thank you Minister for pointing out the unintended error; we have promptly removed the stream, apologies. We will be mindful in the future,” tweeted WhatsApp, responding to Chandrasekhar’s tweet.
Earlier, criticising WhatsApp, the Minister of State (MoS) for Electronics and Technology tweeted: “Dear @WhatsApp – Rqst that pls fix the India map error asap. All platforms that do business in India and/or want to continue to do business in India, must use correct maps.”
The graphic shared by the messaging service on its official Twitter handle, on the occasion of New Year’s Eve, was erroneous as it excluded from India the regions of Jammu and Kashmir illegally occupied by Pakistan, as well as some regions claimed by China.
Wrong depiction of India’s territory can lead to a police case against the offender, and jail term as well.
Earlier this week, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, too, shared an incorrect India map, and was promptly slammed by Chandrasekhar. Yuan deleted the tweet after the error was pointed out to him.
