In India election, a US$14 software tool helps overcome WhatsApp controls

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WhatsApp clones and software tools that cost as little as US$14 are helping Indian digital marketers and political activists bypass anti-spam ...

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: WhatsApp clones and software tools that cost as little as US$14 are helping Indian digital marketers and political activists bypass anti-spam restrictions set up by the world's most popular messaging app, Reuters has found.

Divya Spandana, the social media chief of the Congress, and the BJP's IT head, Amit Malviya, did not respond requests for comment. At least three software tools were available on Amazon.com's India website. When purchased by a Reuters reporter, they arrived as compact discs tucked inside thin cardboard casings, with no company branding.sentifi.com"We are continuing to step up our enforcement against imposter WhatsApp services and take legal action by sending cease and desist letters to hundreds of bulk messaging service providers to help curb abuse," a spokeswoman said.

Both apps have a green-colour interface that closely resembles WhatsApp and can be downloaded for free from dozens of technology blogs. They are not available on Google's official app store but work on Android phones. In Mumbai, a person in the social media team of a senior BJP candidate said no restrictions on JTWhatsApp meant his team could easily send forwards to up to 6,000 people a day, as well as video files containing political content which would be far bigger in size than allowed on the official WhatsApp service.

Business Sender was"not supported or endorsed" by WhatsApp and was developed by"Tiger Vikram Mysore INDIA", its system properties said.

 

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