The move was announced on Monday in Jakarta, Indonesia, in preparation for the country’s general election which is set to happen in April 2019. This measure was first introduced in India six months ago after frequent reports of mob lynching due to spreading of fake news on WhatsApp.
The restriction comes at a time when WhatsApp and Facebook have received a lot of complains and backlash on their role in the spread of fake news. Facebook recently announced that it had removed hundreds of Facebook pages and accounts on Instagram that were being used to spread fake news.
