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<ul><li><keyword id="790242" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="WhatsApp">WhatsApp</keyword> has appointed a new <keyword id="6902518" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="grievance-officer-for-India">grievance officer for India</keyword>, <keyword id="6902520" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Komal-Lahiri">Komal Lahiri</keyword>, the head of handling complaints. </li><li>While Lahiri will be leading the <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> complaints operation, she will be based out of the United States. </li><li>Cybersecurity experts largely view this as a ‘cosmetic move’ that may only have minimal impact on actually addressing the concerns of Indian users and the government.</li></ul>WhatsApp and India haven’t had the easiest relationship of late, but the social messaging platform did <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/who-is-komal-lahiri-whatsapp-grievance-officer-for-india/story/282762.html">appoint a grievance officer</a> to address the needs of the country. While that’s well and good, that individual still isn’t going to be working out of India. The newly appointed grievance officer but will be based out of the United States instead. Komal Lahiri will be handling complaints about Whatsapp for and from users, law enforcement agencies, the government and other institutions, but she won’t be present on ground. After multiple lynching incidents that were exacerbated by Whatsapp, the Government of India insisted on the Facebook-owned company to take urgent measures against the propagation of fake news and misinformation. While this may be a step in the right direction, cybersecurity experts largely <a href="http://zeenews.india.com/technology/whatsapp-appoints-grievance-officer-for-india-but-in-the-us-2143275.html">view</a> this as a cosmetic move where the ground impact will be minimal. The pressure is on India is WhatsApp’s largest market accounting for nearly 200 million of its 1.5 billion active users per month. In the past, they’ve taken out full-page ads in newspapers and broadcast awareness messages on the radio, but the Indian government wants them to take more concrete steps to correct the situation. While the company’s promised to build an India team to be present on location, they seem to be <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/24/whatsapp-hires-grievance-officer/">struggling</a> to find people to come on board. In contrast, their parent company has managed to hire a new managing director and vice-president, Ajit Mohan, for <keyword id="6354576" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword> India. Though WhatsApp is stepping up its efforts with the appointment of Lahiri, it may satiate the things for a while but is far from the kind of permanent solution that is needed.

WhatsApp’s appointment of a grievance officer for India may only be a 'cosmetic move'

By Justin Rao and Komal Panchamatia Mumbai, May 12 () Big ticket releases such as Amitabh Bachchan's "Gulabo Sitabo" may bypass theatres and premiere directly on digital platforms, being seen as a potential saviour for the film industry in a year marred by the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertainty over when cinemas will open.Faced with the question of going "direct to digital" or waiting for theatres to open after the situation improves, many filmmakers and production houses are exploring the option of heading to streaming platforms, industry insiders said.Shoojit Sircar's Amitabh-Ayushman Khurrana starrer "Gulabo Sitabo", Anu Menon's eponymous biopic on math genius Shakuntala Devi, with Vidya Balan in the title role, as well as "Chehre", another Amitabh film, are among the films likely to be released soon on a streaming platform."The deal of releasing 'Gulabo Sitabo', a quirky comedy set in Lucknow, and 'Shakuntala Devi' on Amazon Prime Video has been locked. The official announcement for both the films is most likely to be made this week," a source close to the streamer told .Ronnie Lahiri, producer on "Gulabo Sitabo", neither confirmed nor denied reports when reached out to him but asked journalists to wait for an official statement.An insider on the team of "Shakuntala Devi" also did not comment about the film's digital release."Chehre" producer Anand Pandit said a digital release was under consideration."Given how the lockdown is panning out, a digital release for 'Chehre' is being mulled," Pandit said, adding they would wait till the first week of June to take a final call.India has been under lockdown since March 25 to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.The one official announcement was the release of Nawazuddin Siddiqui's film "Ghoomketu", which streamed on ZEE5 last week. Most other plans are shrouded in secrecy with officials reluctant to come on record. But the list of 2020 films which will be released on streaming platforms is long, said insiders. Top on the list is "Laxmmi Bomb", featuring Akshay Kumar and backed by Fox Star Studios, which has reportedly been picked up by the recently launched service Disney+Hotstar. However, Hotstar representatives maintained a "no comment" stance as did producer Tusshar Kapoor.The movie, directed by Raghava Lawrence, was scheduled to be released on May 22 in theatres. That is unlikely to happen with no signs of cinema theatres opening even if the lockdown ends.The other 2020 releases -- Varun Dhawan-starrer "Coolie No 1", "Jhund" with Bachchan and Jahnvi Kapoor's "Gunjan Saxena" -- are also likely to head to different OTT platforms.Kiara Advani-starrer "Indoo Ki Jawani", co-produced by Nikkhil Advani and Bhushan Kumar, is also reportedly looking for a digital release.However, Advani said the film is currently being edited "despite physical constraints" and the team is optimistic it will be ready "very soon"."We are exploring all possible avenues. Nothing stands confirmed or committed. As soon as we are clear about the way ahead, we will make a statement," he said.Bhushan's T-Series' has two other films, "Ludo" and "Jhund".While questions sent to Bhushan on the slate of his films were left unanswered, a source from the production house confirmed that T-Series is planning to release its films digitally and talks are currently on.There are also some producers who want to wait it out.Producer Jackky Bhagnani, who was looking forward to the theatrical release of "Coolie No 1" on May 1, said he is not thinking about films right now. "Let us overcome this crisis and we will announce in happier times," Bhagnani said when asked about whether he was looking at releasing the film digitally.Reliance Entertainment said it will wait to release two of this year's most awaited films – Akshay starrer "Sooryavanshi" with "83", fronted by Ranveer Singh. The team will wait for the lockdown to be lifted and release these movies in theatres."We will first complete the film then we will wait. If six or nine months down the line the situation becomes much worse we will take a call at that time. There is no hurry. Same is the case with 'Sooryavanshi' and our other films," Reliance Entertainment Group CEO Shibashish Sarkar told last month.Irrfan Khan's last film "Angrezi Medium" headed to OTT platforms soon after its theatrical release as the lockdown led to cinema halls being closed. "There is a lot of big money involved. Also, if you release on OTT you cannot release it in theatres… If you release a film in theatre it will come on satellite as well as digital later," said trade analyst Taran Adarsh.Last week, the Multiplex Association of India (MAI) appealed to studio partners, producers, artistes and content creators to support the cinema exhibition sector by holding their films and releasing them in theatres once they reopen.The statement followed reports that several films were looking at a direct to digital release amid the lockdown.The combination of "pent-up demand" and the promise of new movies would boost film business and contribute massively in reviving the industry, the association said."The collective, social experience of watching films on the big screen needs to be preserved and it can be done so only with the collective support of all stakeholders," the statement from the body read."One can't say the film will lose or gain from a digital release, because when you release a good film in theatres, sky is the limit," Adarsh added KKP/JUR RDS MINMIN

Lockdown impact: Big ticket films likely to skip theatres and go 'direct to digital'

<ul><li><keyword id="790242" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="WhatsApp">WhatsApp</keyword> has appointed <keyword id="1622253" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Abhijit-Bose">Abhijit Bose</keyword> as the country head for India. </li><li>His experience as the co-founder of Ezetap, a local digital payments application, should help work WhatsApp with the launch of its own payments platform. </li><li>The Facebook-owned messaging platform has also been facing issues of data localisation and widespread <keyword id="2479020" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Fake-news">fake news</keyword> that need to be addressed. </li></ul>The <a href="http://whatsapp">constant pressure</a> from the Indian government over the circulation of misinformation and fake news on Whatsapp seems to have yielded results with the Facebook-owned messaging app <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-names-ezetap-co-founder-abhijit-bose-as-india-country-head-amid-government-pressure-to-fight-fake-news/articleshow/66744376.cms">appointing</a> Abhijit Bose as the country head for India. This will be the first WhatsApp team to establish their base outside the US. According to the company’s press statement, “Bose and his team will focus on helping businesses, both large and small, connect with their customers.” Lobbying for improvement The appointment of a country head for India comes at a time when WhatsApp is planning a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/beta-no-more-whatsapp-isnt-slowing-down-even-without-an-office/articleshow/65226054.cms">full roll out</a> of their payment platform after its beta version disrupted the sector for local players like PayTM. As Bose’s previous role was co-founder of Ezetap, a digital payments solution for rural households where smartphones could be turned in to point-of-sale (PoS) devices, his experience should contribute significantly towards pushing Whatsapp own platform forward. Unfortunately, WhatsApp has faced hurdles with respect to regulatory and bureaucratic red-tape in lieu of Facebook’s problems with privacy and security. Competing players like Google and Truecaller have already launched their digital wallets without any significant issues. In addition to that, India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), hasn’t been too pleased with the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-gives-in-to-indias-data-localisation-policy/articleshow/66135946.cms">efforts</a> made by the messaging application to adhere to India’s new data localisation norms. According to them, WhatsApp was only mirroring the data from payments in India rather than keeping the data exclusively within India’s geographical boundaries. Since then, the company has set up the infrastructure for storing data locally and is now compliant with Indian data regulations. As Bose will be based in the country, he will be able to function has the conduit between WhatsApp’s requirements and India’s governments needs to reach amicable solutions that work for both parties. Even his experience at Intuit’s small and medium (SME) division will likely be useful for the messaging application with their plans of rolling out a business focused platform. WhatsApp Business is already available in PlayStore and the company has plans to launch something for merchants as well. The issue of fake news Over the past year, the incidents of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-horrified-by-mob-lynches-in-india-will-address-specific-issues/articleshow/64855592.cms">lynching</a> propagated by fake news in India have led to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-india-needs-from-whatsapp-might-not-be-so-easily-attainable/articleshow/65497255.cms">widespread conversation</a> about being able to track messages back to their original sender. WhatsApp has maintained that such a measure is impossible to implement because it would violate user privacy in lieu of their end-to-end encryption. More recent reports of fake news being tailored to favour certain political parties ahead of 2019 general elections is especially troubling. Out of the 1.5 billion monthly active WhatsApp users, <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/technology/whatsapp-now-has-1-5-billion-monthly-active-users-200-million-users-in-india/1044468/">200 million users</a> are from India. While the company has tried to push for awareness through <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-takes-to-print-ads-to-curb-fake-news-in-india/articleshow/64934810.cms">full-page ads</a> in the newspaper and public service announcements <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-has-a-new-radio-campaign-to-counter-fake-news-in-india/articleshow/65606213.cms">over the radio</a>, the effectiveness of their impetus on digital literacy hasn’t brought about any dramatic changes. Earlier this year, WhatsApp <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapps-appointment-of-a-grievance-officer-for-india-may-only-be-a-cosmetic-move/articleshow/65945991.cms">appointed</a> Komal Lahiri as the grievance officer for India but the government contested that it wasn’t good enough since she was based out of the US. Bose, on the other hand, will be based out of India and available for direct interaction when legal or monetary issues arise. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indian-government-wants-to-tap-into-your-whatsapp-messages-other-social-media/articleshow/64979461.cms">Indian government wants to tap into your WhatsApp messages, other social media</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-horrified-by-mob-lynches-in-india-will-address-specific-issues/articleshow/64855592.cms">WhatsApp 'horrified' by mob lynches in India, will address 'specific issues'</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-india-needs-from-whatsapp-might-not-be-so-easily-attainable/articleshow/65497255.cms">What India needs from WhatsApp might not be so easily attainable</a>

Here's what WhatsApp India head will take on as it sets out to establish its first full country team

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WhatsApp’s appointment of a grievance officer for India may only be a 'cosmetic move'

Prabhjote Gill

Lockdown impact: Big ticket films likely to skip theatres and go 'direct to digital'

PTI

Here's what WhatsApp India head will take on as it sets out to establish its first full country team

Prabhjote Gill

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