Koo now allows Aadhaar-based verification on its microblogging platform

Social media platform Koo — an Indian counterpart to microblogging website Twitter — has now enabled Aadhaar-based self verification feature on its platform. The process is completely voluntary and will eventually accept other government-issued identification cards.

Mayank Bidawatka, cofounder of Koo, mentioned that Koo does not store any customer information of the customer’s Aadhaar. The company emphasised that it is currently using only Aadhaar cards as other modes of identification are not widespread.

All self verified profiles will host a green tick next to the name. This is not the same as the verification on Twitter, Koo uses yellow tick marks for such verification. The green tick means to verify users on their app as authentic. The company has noted that the whole self-verification tool will take less than 30 seconds.

“Users can get self-verified in less than 30 seconds through our safe and secure verification process. This is a huge step towards lending greater authenticity to users and promoting responsible behavior on the platform. Most social media only give this power to some accounts. Koo is the first platform that has now empowered every user to have the same privilege,” Aprameya Radhakrishna, cofounder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Koo, said in a statement.

How to get verified on Koo?

1. Click on the self-verification button on the Koo profile
2. Enter the government ID number. The platform only accepts Aadhaar at the moment.
3. Enter the OTP (one-time-password) you get on your number registered with the Aadhaar card or the government id.
4. Once authenticated, the self-verification would be completed.

Back in 2019, a petitioner in Tamil Nadu had filed a plea before the Madras High Court seeking verification of all social media profiles with Aadhaar cards.

The same year even the Tamil Nadu government had told the Supreme Court of India that all social media profiles should be linked with Aadhaar numbers in order to keep the spread of fake news and misinformation in checks on social media. The state government was also of the belief that such linkage could prevent pornographic, anti-national and other harmful content on these social media platforms.

The Supreme Court had rejected the plea.

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