New Delhi: Meta on Wednesday (September 13) launched Channels for its popular messaging platform WhatsApp, a “one-way broadcast tool” that will allow people to receive updates from people and organisations in a “private way.”
At present, Channels is available only to the Indian cricket team and celebrities Katrina Kaif, Diljit Dosanjh and Vijay Deverakonda, but Whatsapp said that it was “welcoming thousands of organisations, sports teams, artists, and thought leaders that people can follow”.
In a press release, Meta said: “WhatsApp Channels are a one-way broadcast tool and deliver a private way to receive updates from people and organisations that matter to you, right within WhatsApp.”
The feature, earlier rolled out in Singapore and Colombia in June, will now be available in India and 150 other countries.
The Wire has learnt that while users in India will be able to receive updates from these Channels, they will not be able to create their own Channels just yet.
“WhatsApp Channels are rolling out globally over the next few weeks. Over the coming months, we’ll also make it possible for anyone to create a channel,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said to The Wire.
According to Meta, Channels aims to be a “private broadcast service.”
Channels are separate from chats and who users choose to follow will not be visible to other followers. Meta said that the “personal information of both admins and followers” will be protected.
Commenting on the collaboration, BCCI said: “The Indian Cricket team is thrilled to partner with WhatsApp on the launch of Channels. We kick-off our partnership with WhatsApp with the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 which is set to begin in October.
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“We will leverage Channels to generate excitement and support as India gets ready to host the marquee event after a decade-long wait. With WhatsApp Channels, fans will be aware of important and accurate information and news around match schedules, timings, scorecards etc. Get on WhatsApp channels and never miss out on updates from on and off the field.”
Actor and entrepreneur Kaif said that Channels will serve as a personalised newsletter. “WhatsApp Channels serves as a personalised newsletter through which I can share insights and updates with my dedicated audience, fans, and all those who have consistently shown their support throughout my journey.”
WhatsApp’s market in India
As probably its largest markets in the world, India is crucial for its commercial success.
In February 2021, then Union minister for information and technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said at a press conference that WhatsApp has 53 crore (530 million) users in India.
Last week Meta’s India head Sandhya Devanathan had highlighted that India is “huge priority market” for the company.
“India is a huge priority market for the company. So, India has one of our largest user bases, be it on Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp. But equally, India is also the place where we test a lot of what we roll out globally as well. It has also been where we develop a lot of our innovative products and that investment will continue,” she said to the Press Trust of India.
‘India: the WhatsApp election’
It is not clear who the “thought leaders” allowed to create Channels are, at present, if that includes political leaders. Its likely impact in an election year is not lost on anybody, making it something of interest to political watchers and something beyond pure entertainment.
On May 5, 2019, even before the results of the general elections, The Financial Times had run a ‘Big Read’ story with a headline, “India: the WhatsApp election,” saying that it is the most influential social media platform in many parts of the world – it could also shape the country’s political future.”
Last time when WhatsApp restricted the number of ‘forwards’, it was elections in Brazil that caused it to enforce the restriction. Last year too, Brazilian authorities urged messaging platform WhatsApp to hold back the launch of a new “Communities” tool until elections were completed in October.
The new feature, Communities, as per news reports would have permitted communications to be sent to 2,560 people simultaneously.
Sao Paulo prosecutors wrote a letter to the Meta-owned platform saying that the expansion of two non-application message groups could drive the spread of fake news during the elections, counteracting measures taken by the company, according to Globo news outlet.
“In recent years, there has been a growth or flow of misinformation about the Brazilian democratic institutions, especially about the voting system used in the country,” they said.
Ahead of elections, the Modi government has, as before, been the most innovative in devising new ways to use social media to capture digital audiences.
A series of interviews with Union ministers conducted by social media influencers in collaboration with MyGov have also raised questions about the Modi government’s use of public funds to finance interactions between influencers and senior government functionaries as well as the terms of these interactions.