Meta-owned WhatsApp might face a punishment of up to 4 million roubles (equal to $41,42,586) after Russia accused the messaging service of failing to remove unlawful information.
According to a Moscow court, as reported by the state-owned news agency RIA on Friday, WhatsApp is being held liable for allegedly failing to erase the prohibited information.
While WhatsApp’s parent company, Meta Platforms Inc., was banned in Russia last year for being labeled an “extremist” organization, the messaging app itself, which is popular in the country, had not previously faced legal action for failing to remove prohibited content.
The specifics of the information that WhatsApp reportedly failed to erase were not stated in the RIA article. Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications regulator, started administrative action against WhatsApp.
Russia imposed strict military censorship measures from the start of its military campaign in Ukraine. These rules led to penalties being imposed on a variety of digital businesses, including Google, Wikipedia, and Discord.
According to insiders, WhatsApp is presently working on a new messaging interface for its Android app. When messages are chosen, the new menu is supposed to mirror the context menu present in iOS. Long-pressing a message will bring up a menu with five alternatives to pick from. This change was spotted in WhatsApp beta version 2.23.11.4 for Android, suggesting that the revamped messaging menu is still being worked on and will most likely be delivered in a future beta update. Furthermore, WhatsApp has lately been discovered building an Android user interface that is similar to the design of the iPhone.
According to WhatsApp development tracker WABetaInfo, the instant messaging app is overhauling the message menu for Android. The revamped menu is supposed to look similar to WhatsApp for iOS’s context menu. This update will make it easier for users to pick actions for a given message. WABetaInfo has also shared an image of the future message menu, which shows five choices below the chosen message: Delete, Forward, Reply, Keep, and Info.
