INDIA'S political parties have been abusing popular messaging service WhatsApp ahead of the country's general election and the company has warned them not to do so, a senior executive said today (6).
WhatsApp declined to name the parties or give the exact nature of the alleged misuse, but there is mounting concern in India that party workers could abuse the platform by using automated tools for mass messaging, or spread false news to sway voters.
The messaging app has become a key campaign tool used widely by workers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress party, which accuse each other of propagating fake news while denying they do so themselves.
"We have seen a number of parties attempt to use WhatsApp in ways that it was not intended, and our firm message to them is that using it in that way will result in bans of our service," Carl Woog, head of communications for WhatsApp, told reporters.
The next general election must be held by May.
The platform's challenges in India are not unique. It was flooded with falsehoods and conspiracy theories ahead of the October election in Brazil, raising concerns that it was being used to distort the political debate.
India is WhatsApp's biggest market with more than 200 million users.
Woog said they had engaged with political parties to explain the company's view that the app was not a broadcast platform.
"We are trying to be very clear going into the election that there is abuse on WhatsApp. We are working very hard to identify it and prevent it as soon as possible," he said.
The BJP's head of information technology, Amit Malviya, told Reuters he had not met with WhatsApp representatives and declined to comment further.
Congress' social media head, Divya Spandana, said the party does not abuse WhatsApp.
WhatsApp has said that it bans two million accounts each month for sending bulk or automated messages. It did not say how many are banned in India.
The minister, promoted from the Ministry of Justice during prime minister Keir Starmer’s Cabinet reshuffle last Friday, said securing the country’s borders would be her main focus. (Photo: Getty Images)
Mahmood hosted Five Eyes ministers from the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada in London
Home secretary says border security will be her main focus after Cabinet reshuffle
NEWLY-APPOINTED home secretary Shabana Mahmood on Monday (September 8) outlined a tougher approach on immigration, warning that countries refusing to take back illegal migrants could face visa suspensions.
Mahmood, who took charge of the Home Office last week, made the remarks as she hosted ministerial counterparts from the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada at a meeting of the intelligence-sharing group “Five Eyes” in London.
Her comments came after more than 1,000 migrants crossed the English Channel in small boats over the weekend, one of the highest totals recorded in recent times.
Visa warning to countries
"For countries that do not play ball, we have been talking about taking much more coordinated action between the Five Eyes countries,” Mahmood said.
"And for us that means the possibility of cutting visas in the future, just to say we do expect countries to play ball, play by the rules and if one of your citizens has no right to be in our country, you have to take them back," she added.
The minister, promoted from the Ministry of Justice during prime minister Keir Starmer’s Cabinet reshuffle last Friday, said securing the country’s borders would be her main focus.
"I'm very clear that there has to be a strong approach to maintaining our border, and that does mean saying to countries who do not take their citizens back that we're not simply going to allow our laws to remain unenforced. That they do have to play ball, they have to come to the table and if cutting visas is one of the ways to do that, then I will do whatever it takes," she said.
Talks with Five Eyes ministers
Mahmood was speaking to reporters as she began talks with Kristi Noem, US Homeland Security Secretary, who is visiting the UK. Noem has been overseeing President Donald Trump’s deportation drive in her role with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
Australian home affairs minister Tony Burke, New Zealand minister Judith Collins and Canadian public safety minister Gary Anandasangaree also took part in Monday’s summit. Alongside discussions on illegal migration and people smuggling, the agenda included online child sexual abuse and the spread of opioids.
Mahmood, 44, was born in Birmingham to parents from Mirpur in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. A University of Oxford graduate and qualified barrister, she was first elected as a Labour MP in 2010.
She has held several shadow cabinet positions and was appointed to one of the senior-most roles in the Labour government last year, becoming one of the most prominent British Muslims in the party.
In May, during Operation Sindoor after the Pahalgam terrorist attack, she issued a statement on South Asia tensions: “I share the concerns of my constituents regarding the rising tensions between Pakistan and India. Nobody wins in an escalation between the two countries, and dialogue and diplomacy should be a priority.”
“I know many in Birmingham with family in both countries will be desperately worried, which is why restoring regional stability is essential,” she said at the time.
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Migrants wade into the sea to board a dinghy to cross the English Channel on August 25, 2025 in Gravelines, France.(Photo: Getty Images)
MORE than 1,000 migrants arrived on small boats across the Channel on Shabana Mahmood’s first full day as home secretary, taking total arrivals this year past 30,000.
The Home Office said 1,097 migrants crossed on Saturday after nine days without any arrivals. It was the second-highest daily total this year, after 1,195 on May 31. Crossings have now reached 30,100 — 37 per cent higher than at this point in 2023 and 8 per cent higher than 2022, the record year.
Mahmood called the figures “utterly unacceptable” and said she would consider all options. She pledged the first deportations to France under the new one-in, one-out deal would begin “imminently”, with returns expected later this month.
Concerns remain that a possible collapse of the French government, with prime minister François Bayrou facing a confidence vote on Monday, could delay returns and a new maritime law allowing French police to intercept boats in the Channel, The Times reported.
The 30,000 mark has been reached earlier this year than any other since records began in 2018. It was reached on September 21 in 2022, October 30 last year, and not at all in 2023.
Mahmood, appointed home secretary after Angela Rayner’s resignation, is expected to outline plans to move asylum seekers from hotels into military sites.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “Reshuffling ministerial deckchairs does not change the obvious fact Labour has totally lost control of our borders.”
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People try to board a migrant dinghy into the English Channel on August 25, 2025 in Gravelines, France. (Photo: Getty Images)
THE UK government said on Sunday it is examining the use of military sites to house migrants, amid growing criticism over the practice of accommodating asylum seekers in hotels.
"We are looking at the potential use of military and non-military use sites for temporary accommodation for the people who come across on these small boats," defence secretary John Healey told Sky News.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said in a statement that migrants using boats to cross the Channel from France was "utterly unacceptable".
According to figures published Sunday by the Home Office, more than 30,000 people have arrived in Britain by boat since the start of the year.
Mahmood also said a new deal with France, which came into effect in early August, would allow Britain to detain those arriving by boat and return them to France.
The arrangement requires Britain to accept an equal number of eligible migrants from France.
Some hotels currently used to house migrants have seen protests, and the government is also facing legal challenges. By law, asylum seekers must be provided with accommodation and access to health care.
Prime minister Keir Starmer has pledged to end the use of hotels within four years. The government has already reduced the number of hotel places by half compared to a year ago.
The previous Conservative government had already prepared two disused military bases to house several hundred asylum seekers, a measure criticised by migrant-aid groups.
(With inputs from agencies)
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London Underground services will not resume before 8am on Friday September 12. (Photo: Getty Images)
First London Underground strike since March 2023 begins
RMT members stage five-day walkout after pay talks collapse
Union demands 32-hour week; TfL offers 3.4 per cent rise
Elizabeth line and Overground to run but face heavy demand
THE FIRST London Underground strike since March 2023 has begun, with a five-day walkout over pay and conditions.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union are staging rolling strikes after nine months of negotiations failed.
The union has demanded a 32-hour week, while Transport for London (TfL) has offered a 3.4 per cent pay rise.
TfL said the offer was “fair” but added that a reduction from the contractual 35-hour week “is neither practical nor affordable,” BBC reported.
The strike runs from midnight on Sunday 7 September until 11.59pm on Thursday 11 September. London Underground services will not resume before 8am on Friday 12 September.
Nick Dent, director of customer operations at London Underground, said it was not too late to call off the strikes before disruption.
The Elizabeth line and London Overground will run as normal but are expected to be much busier. Buses and roads are also likely to see heavier demand.
A separate dispute will shut the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) on Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11 September.
Service plans include: limited Tube operations ending early on Sunday 7 September; little or no service on the Underground from Monday to Thursday; and full resumption by late morning on Friday 12 September. The Elizabeth line will not stop at Liverpool Street, Farringdon and Tottenham Court Road stations at certain times on 8–11 September, Sky News reported.
The last full Tube strike took place in March 2023.
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Mumbai Local has been stripped of its licence by Harrow council. (Photo: LDRS/Google Maps)
AN INDIAN restaurant in north London has lost its licence after it was found to have repeatedly employed illegal workers.
Harrow council determined that the evidence suggested that using illegal workers was a “systemic approach” to running the premises and it had a “lack of trust” in the business to comply with the law.
Harrow council’s Licensing Panel chose to strip Mumbai Local, an Indian restaurant on Streatfield Road, of its licence at a meeting on August 20, the outcome of which has now been made public.
The review came after Immigration Officers found people working there illegally on three separate visits dating back to 2023.
The panel found that the restaurant owner had “disregarded the law” on employing illegal workers on a number of occasions and it “had no trust” in them to remedy the situation.
An option to simply suspend the licence was considered but the panel concluded that it had “no confidence” in the licence holder’s ability to comply with their legal obligations and had “no choice” but to revoke it entirely.
The Home Office had called on Harrow council to review Mumbai Local’s licence due to a “continual pattern” of hiring illegal workers.
Immigration Officers told the panel that six illegal workers had been found at the restaurant following a visit on November 16, 2023, with a further two found during a follow up visit on July 4, 2024.
A compliance check was carried out on July 17, 2025, where a man who had previously been arrested was present on the premises, as well as another lady who told officers she would get the manager before disappearing.
On August 15, 2024, the company running the restaurant was given a £120,000 civil penalty for employing two people who did not have the right to work. This was reduced to £60,000 for employing one illegal worker following an appeal. A further appeal has been lodged but this remains ongoing.
The premises licence holder (PLH) “held their hands up” to the illegal workers being on the premises in November 2023, according to the meeting minutes, but claimed that the July 2024 incident “had more to it”. The PLH claims this worker came to the country having been sponsored by an IT company that went bust so he was out of work. They suggested the man is “like a son” to them and provided free food to him as he had nowhere to go and believes he “has a duty towards him”.
The PLH tried to suggest that the panel suspend the licence for just one month, claiming this would already “be crippling” to the business but the panel would “never see him again” as they had no other sanctions against them. However, under questioning the PLH admitted that there had been issues at another premises they own and they were forced to pay a £30,000 fine.
Ultimately, the panel didn’t feel the option of a suspension and additional conditions imposed on the licence “would be an appropriate remedy”. It determined that it “did not have the confidence in the PLH’s ability to comply with his legal obligations and had no option but to use their powers to revoke the licence.”