WhatsApp group chats are now a popular feature for users of WhatsApp who want to arrange a holiday, a dinner, or just stay in contact with miles away friends. Though thanks to the 256 member rule of WhatsApp (the maximum number of people in one group), the ‘only a few friends connecting’message appears to have gone over the edge. The 1.5+ billion members of the WhatsApp using Groups and companies want to join the arena.
Being the admin or administrator in a WhatsApp group‘s common language has never been easy. And now, Cyber Crime police are saying life will just get tough for admins out there.
One black sheep in the herd could put the admin behind bars, say cops, pointing out that some controversial posts circulating on WhatsApp have prompted the Cyber Crime to be extra cautious and take action against these posts.
From now on, any post that might encourage enmity in any WhatsApp group on the grounds of faith, ethnicity, sex, language and so on will mean jail for the group’s admin. In other words, no anti-national, collective or racial posts in these groups are to be tolerated.
It is up to the admin to show caution, rein in suspicious members and report them in case of trouble to police. Members that attempt to malign someone else, inside or outside of the party, may also cause trouble.
“Social media networking sites have their own limits and a difficult incentive for foolproof investigation. Yet instant messaging apps pose a different scenario as it’s easier to retrieve facts, “U Ram Mohan, SP, Cybercrime said, suggesting it wouldn’t be easy for troublemakers to escape.
Pointing out that ensuring that no material was posted targeting any caste, religion or ethnicity was the duty of the administrator, Ram Mohan said posting these messages was a recognized offense and if the administrator fails to take preventive steps, he or she may be in trouble.
“Serious action against the administrator of the company will be taken. He/she will be held in custody under Section 153 A of the Indian Penal Code, ‘he said. Additional Commissioner (Crimes & SIT) Swathi Lakra said WhatsApp has become a way to spread rumors and offensive material, sometimes leading to tense situations arising from the tests. There was also a need to stop taking pictures of people without their permission at parties or public places.
“Sharing such pictures on social media / WhatsApp without these individuals ‘prior permission is a crime under the IT Act and IPC,” she said, adding that it should also be avoided to post pictures of others, such as those of celebrities as profile pictures.
If you are a WhatsApp group admin, here is why you must think through your role. With over 200 million whatsapp users in India, every social media group administrator should be ready to bear responsibility and ownership of the group.
Table of Contents
What the WhatsApp administrator should do
- Ensure each and every group member is reliable
- Inform the police if members resort to mischief
- Members should be informed about the rules of posting in the group
- Alert and prevent members from sharing objectionable content
- Regularly monitor content being shared in the group
Basically, there are two ways by which you can become the WhatsApp group, admin:
- Creating the group – Automatically makes you an admin
- Being appointed as an admin
7 things only WhatsApp group admins can do:
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Add people / members
One of the oldest capabilities differentiating ordinary members from group administrators was adding participants to a group chat right from the time WhatsApp was founded. Often adding participants may be a daunting job on the part of the administrators, but as Uncle Ben said in Spiderman, “Great responsibilities come with great strength”
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Removing Members
An administrator also has the right to exclude any member of a party. As an ordinary participant, no matter how much you get annoyed in your favorite school or project group by the interventions of another participant, the power to exclude these individuals resides solely within the boundaries of a community admin.
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Appoint Administrator
So when the burden of managing a group of people is too much to bear, by naming him/her as an administrator, you can delegate the power and responsibility to another group member.
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Remove or Dismiss Admin
Just like the appointment process, only an admin may delete or revoke another administrator’s administrative access. With the latest ‘Dismiss as Admin’ feature from WhatsApp, removing auxiliary administrators is now simpler than it used to be — having to uninstall the aux admin entirely, and then put him / her back as an ordinary member.
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Send Messages
Over the years, WhatsApp has introduced a lot of features. And it has also provided even more control to community administrators on the Messaging platform in the process of doing so.
WhatsApp has recently added a ‘Limited Community’ feature that only allows administrators the flexibility to share text messages, documents, videos, photos, voice messages, documents, and so on while transforming members into onlookers. This feature has its upsides and downsides, but again, it’s just one of the many advantages that come with the ‘Team Administration’ office.
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Edit Group Info
WhatsApp has previously allowed Tom, Dick, and Harry to present in the group to change the group information such as the group name and display photos. Now group admins have power over who can change the topic, icon, and description of the group.
Trying to change a What’s app group’s information without being an admin could leave you faced with an answer like the one on the image below.
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Delete Group
Groups are created for their own purposes. Once Christmas is done, a “Christmas Party” group will have served its function, so it’s only natural to delete the group … or, maybe, save it to be reused for next Christmas Party planning. Nevertheless, if the need for the presence of a WhatsApp group is no longer, only the admin can effectively delete the community — after all members of the course have been deleted.
Final Thoughts:
WhatsApp group chats are now a familiar yet popular feature for WhatsApp users. Whether you’re on a holiday or a day out with friends, thanks to WhatsApp’s group chats for letting us share our precious memories with friends and family. So, managing the group chats play a vital role in sharing the fun. We’ve shared a few key factors that should be followed to effectively manage your WhatsApp group chats. Hope this article helped you. Cheers!
