Indian lynch mob killings force WhatsApp to limit deadly messages

FORWARDING “fake rumours” on social media has turned deadly, with lynchings and deaths fuelled by messages spread on WhatsApp.

An Indian newspaper vendor reading a newspaper with a full back page advertisement from WhatsApp intended to counter fake information. Picture: AFP

THE lynching of a woman in Central India because it was rumoured she was part of a gang kidnapping kids has forced WhatsApp to place a limit on forwarding messages.

It comes on the back of a public relations nightmare for the Facebook-owned messaging service, after the Indian government recently accused WhatsApp message forwarding of fuelling the deadly rumours.

Lynch mobs in India have killed 21 people in the last two months over unfounded allegations forwarded on WhatsApp, AFP reports.

WhatsApp has now announced restrictions the ability of users in India to forward content, as the latest attempt to curb mob violence sparked by rumours spread through the hugely popular app.

In India, the limit on forwarding is five chats at once. For WhatsApp users outside India, the limit on forwarding will be 20.

India, a nation of 1.25 billion people, is no stranger to mob violence, with well-documented cases of crowds turning on victims for every manner of transgression, real or imagined.

But the spread of smartphones — there are a billion-plus handsets, and data is cheap — to even the most remote corners has enabled rumours to be shared at lightning speed.

Victims have included homeless people, a transgender woman, two picnic goers, an elderly woman handing out chocolates to children and a 27-year-old software engineer.

The rumour blamed for many of the recent incidents emerged over a year ago in eastern India, claiming strangers were sedating and abducting children.

Seven people were killed there in two attacks in as many days. In February this year, the rumours resurfaced 1600km away in western India, and reached the south by May. It was often accompanied by a grainy video purporting to show men on motorbikes stealing kids.

The footage was in fact from a Pakistani public safety film.

Other images supposedly showing dead Indian children with their organs stolen were, in reality, Syrians killed in a gas attack.

India is WhatsApp’s biggest market with more than 200 million users. In rural communities, it is often the primary way people access the internet.

The latest lynching came days after India’s highest court called for immediate steps to control deadly mob violence across the country.

Indian activists protest against mob lynchings in India. More than 20 people have been killed in two months, leaving Indian authorities and WhatsApp scrambling for a solution. Picture: AFP

WhatsApp said for India, it will also remove the quick forward button next to media messages on its app.

“We believe that these changes — which we’ll continue to evaluate — will help keep WhatsApp the way it was designed to be: a private messaging app,” the company said in a blog post on its website.

FIGHTING FAKE RUMOUR

The Indian government announced on Monday that it was setting up two committees to recommend appropriate ways to deal with the growing mob violence.

Previously, authorities have rounded up suspects and formed patrols, driving village to village to quash the rumours.

Authorities in some states shut down internet access in a desperate effort to stop the hoax from spreading.

But the campaigns had limited effect. In one instance, an official “rumour buster” was himself beaten to death.

India’s Supreme Court told the government this week to make a new law to rein in “mobocracy”.

Earlier this month, the Indian government turned its fire on WhatsApp, calling for the firm to take “immediate action”.

WhatsApp said it was “horrified” by the lynchings, and announced new features to help users identify messages that have been forwarded.

The Facebook-owned firm ran full-page adverts in Indian newspapers offering tips to its 200 million users in the country to separate fact from fiction.

Last week, the government again let loose, threatening legal action this time. WhatsApp announced its restrictions the next day

LATEST LYNCHING

At least 14 people were arrested in Madhya Pradesh state’s Singrauli district following last weekend’s killing of the woman, who was about 25, senior police officer Riyaz Iqbal said.

Mr Iqbal said residents informed police on Saturday that a woman’s body was lying in a forested area.

It’s believed the woman was taken on Friday night by a mob which dragged her to a village community centre while punching and kicking her and hitting her with sticks.

Mr Iqbal said the woman was seen roaming around neighbouring villages a few days earlier amid wild rumours that members of child kidnapping gangs were active in the area.

The officer said the woman had not yet been identified. “She was not able to properly communicate with the mob and in all probability appears to have been mentally unsound,” he said.

Originally published as Indian lynch mob killings force WhatsApp to limit deadly messages