MAM
An overview of WhatsApp’s safety and privacy campaigns this year
Mumbai: In an age where privacy and online security have become paramount, WhatsApp is at the forefront of innovating features that continually help enhance the safety and privacy for users globally. From chat lock to disappearing messages, silence unknown callers to privacy checkup, every new feature adds to WhatsApp’s multiple layers of protection.
Understanding that launching innovative features alone is not enough, WhatsApp has invested time and effort to educate users and drive awareness around some of its key safety and privacy features. This strategic effort involves multiple safety and privacy campaigns designed to empower users to take control of their online safety and privacy.
Stay safe with WhatsApp campaign:
• On 12 April, WhatsApp rolled out their three-month ‘Stay safe with WhatsApp’ that focused on creating user awareness around safer digital practices, highlighting product features that empower users to take control of their online safety and ensure a safer messaging experience.
• WhatsApp collaborated with influential figures such as Rajiv Makhni, Manoj Chugh, Jaspreet Bindra, Akancha Shrivastava, Pankaj Gupta, and Deepak Maheshwari to amplify awareness of WhatsApp’s safety and privacy features.
• As part of this campaign, WhatsApp released educational user guides highlighting safety tools and product features to secure users’ WhatsApp accounts. Additionally, it offered insights on how to stay protected from scams using WhatsApp’s safety features.
Privacy campaign highlighting WhatsApp’s “Multiple layers of protection”
• WhatsApp launched a global campaign focused on the importance of secure communication and WhatsApp’s multiple layers of privacy. The campaign shows how a private conversation with a friend or loved one on WhatsApp creates a safe space for people to communicate with one another.
• Mirrors Activation and partnership with Anushka Sharma to highlight the power of private messaging. WhatsApp partnered with actor Anushka Sharma to launch a series of mirrored messages appearing in private spaces – women’s restrooms – in malls across Delhi. Mirrored messages with QR codes appeared in women’s restrooms in Delhi malls, offering suggestions for checking in via a private WhatsApp message. These messages disappeared afterward, similar to the Disappearing Messages feature on WhatsApp.
• 3D Anamorphic installations at the Gateway of India: WhatsApp hosted an immersive storytelling experience at Mumbai’s iconic Gateway of India, where anamorphic privacy installations and projection mapping on the monument facade vividly showcased the layers of privacy WhatsApp offers:
For the final leg of the privacy campaign, on 4 September, WhatsApp will announce a partnership with Ranveer Singh to promote message privacy where he talks about how WhatsApp’s multiple layers of protection give him control over his most private conversations.
In a candid conversation the actor opens up about what’s in his phone and how he protects his most private conversations on WhatsApp. The entertaining video almost has Ranveer spilling the beans but instead educates people on the importance of private and secure messaging with simple privacy features like end-to-end encryption, chat lock, screenshot blocking for view once messages on WhatsApp.
Talking about the collaboration with WhatsApp, Ranveer Singh, said, “With more and more private conversations happening online, our privacy needs are also evolving. From sharing my most private thoughts with my friends and family to discussing work, my WhatsApp has private information like film scripts, my financial details. The cool thing about WhatsApp is that with its layers of privacy I know my conversations are always secure and with features like chat lock, I can password protect my most private and important chats so that even though my phone changes hands, my chats don’t.”
Meta director, consumer marketing Vyom Prashant said, “We’re thrilled to partner with Ranveer to bring alive the multiple ways in which WhatsApp protects our users’ privacy, in an entertaining, informative, and relatable manner. We believe this partnership along with our campaign on privacy, demonstrates to our users that they always have a safe and private space on WhatsApp for their conversations.”
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
