Last week, five people were lynched in the Maharashtra's Dhule district on suspicion of them being a part of a gang of child-lifters. In a similar incident, two people in Tripura were lynched and six others thrashed. Assam, too, witnessed a case of lynching last month on similar ground.
And who was responsible? WhatsApp. At least that’s what the Government of India believes.
With over 200 million active WhatsApp users in India, the country seems to have a serious problem with the spread of fake news, and nothing is being done about it. On the contrary, India told Facebook-owned WhatsApp to take "immediate action" after a spate of these horrific lynchings sparked by false rumours was shared on the messaging service.
A stern statement issued by the electronics and IT ministry expressed the government's "deep disapproval" to the senior management of WhatsApp over the "irresponsible and explosive messages". "The government has also conveyed in no uncertain terms that WhatsApp must take immediate action to end this menace.”
Meanwhile, WhatsApp responded to the Government of India’s letter on rumours spread via the app and said, “Like the Government of India, we’re horrified by these terrible acts of violence and wanted to respond quickly to the very important issues you have raised. We believe this is a challenge that requires government, civil society, and technology companies to work together.”
But, how much can WhatsApp exactly do to curb this situation, specifically for India? Unfortunately, we cannot blame a messaging app which is used worldwide, if the government itself fails to address the issues which are largely at play in the country.
WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps around the world. Everyone uses it. But not everyone falls prey to the spread of fake news. However, in India, most of the people who have been tricked into believing this news are villagers, who are probably using a smartphone for the first time and are also, incited to violence by rumors suggesting certain persons are organ or child traffickers, points out a report. But again, this isn’t a WhatsApp problem. This is, a ‘Fake News’ problem.
It is believed that the police in India are working hard to stop these rumours which are spread through the app but clearly, not much has been done. Additionally, fake news has also caused more of paranoia and stress among Indians. When citizens have received such forwards, they have taken the matter in their own hands and sadly, many innocent people have lost their lives, with no fault at all.
WhatsApp in India can do everything it can, but at the end, it is the responsibility of the government to find a solution and stop the spread of fake messages. New rules need to be implemented and the police in the country need better tools to cope with false content being spread as well.
In other news, WhatsApp’s userbase in India is said to rise to 500 million people in 2020. India needs to take this up as a challenge and find a solution, as soon as possible.
