Fake news leading to Mob lynchings in India has been a problem that has earned India global criticism of late. Fake news in India forms the part of India’s latest social disharmony and communal violence. Whatsapp on Friday announced a new series of measures to curb the problem.
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Mob lynchings in India over Whatsapp rumours or due to communal hatred became so prevalent and alarming that even the Supreme Court of India had to ask the Indian government to come up with a separate law on lynchings.
In recent times a lot of WhatsApp rumours when forwarded led to mob lynchings in India. Whatsapp has been under immense pressure from the Indian government to come up with reforms so as to tame the spread of hatred and fake rumours through the social media platform. Whatsapp on Friday announced that it will limit the forwarding of messages on Whatsapp for India so as to curb the spreading of fake rumours leading to lynchings or violence.
Whatsapp will test features to limit the forwarding of messages for WhatsApp users in India. Whatsapp looks to limit the message forwarding to only 5 chats as a part of the measures to control the fake news and rumours from spreading.
The government of India hat written to Whatsapp twice so as to come up with more effective measures that effectively curb the spread of fake news. The second letter was written to Whatsapp on Thursday following which Whatsapp announced new reforms on Friday. The Indian government had urged Whatsapp to bring in more accountability and at the same time facilitate the process of law enforcement.
The Indian government sent out a stringent warning to Whatsapp earlier this month to stop the spread of irresponsible and explosive messages immediately.
But is Whatsapp to be blamed for this menace or is the onus on the Indian society which has started finding a great reliability in the rumours spread over the social media.
