Are You Being Abused Or Offended On WhatsApp? Now, Register Complaints With Department Of Telecommunications

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has opened a channel enabling people to complain against offensive, and vulgar messages received on WhatsApp, reports Indian Express.

The new move reportedly comes in light of several journalists receiving abusive messages over WhatsApp.

“If anyone is receiving abusive/offensive/death threats/vulgar WhatsApp messages, please send screenshots of the message along with the mobile numbers at ccaddn-dot@nic.in,” telecom department’s controller of communications Ashish Joshi was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

“We will take it up with the telecom operators and police heads for necessary action,” he added.

Following complaints by public figures, the DoT has reportedly asked telecom operators to take immediate action against subscribers sending such messages, given that the licensing conditions of the service providers prohibited the carriage of objectionable, obscene or unauthorised content in any form on the network.

The Centre had also suggested that telecom operators open a dedicated call centre or helpline to receive complaints against such messages given that the onus is also on operators to ensure that their networks are not used as a medium for abusive language.