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New delhi/ Social media has turned out to be such a powerful tool these days with any news, rumours or queries reaching a huge number of people in a very short time. With a humongous reach, it has had its own risks with fake news rearing its ugly head through such mediums.
WhatsApp, a highly popular application, has had trouble dealing with this threat of fake news for quite a while now. Agenda-driven news and messages have been riddling the messaging app with the makers resorting to extreme measures to control them with the Government also exerting pressure on them.
But Duta (duta.in), a news service based on WhatsApp, has offered a respite from all such trouble. Duta’s people-oriented news service has helped improve the veracity of the medium as well. They provide news at a very quick pace but do so only after verifying the legitimacy of the same.
Duta’s reach also means that they help news reach even the remotest of places through WhatsApp. But they do not stop there. They put their huge userbase to good effect during crisis situations, as witnessed during the recent floods in Kerala. They collected help requests from their users in affected areas and ensured it reached the relevant authorities.
Duta has almost revolutionised the idea of social media among the masses. By bringing the internet to them through their various interactive services (PNR search, weather, quizzes, wikipedia search, translations etc) apart from delivering news, they have ensured WhatsApp is thought of as the medium where you can get everything. It is no more a place where you could just connect with your friends and family.
With just WhatsApp, people are becoming aware of what is happening in a remote area of the country. A lot of news services have started delivering the same on WhatsApp these days like the Quint, Media One etc.
However, their commitment towards weeding out fake news stands out and is one of the prime reasons behind why Duta have such a huge userbase. In fact, people have started using WhatsApp just for Duta.
