Another assault over WhatsApp rumours

Triggered by rumours on social media, a mob assaulted two men in Manipur on suspicion of being child traffickers.

According to police, locals found the men in a disoriented state two kilometers apart and they were assaulted when they failed to give a satisfactory answers when quizzed. Neither of them was carrying any documents that could prove their identity.

The locals believed the men were child traffickers.

The men, whose identity were yet to be ascertained, were later rescued and taken into preventive custody by the police.

In the past few months India has been witnessing a surge in the number of mob lynchings and assaults triggered by false WhatsApp messages.

Recently, the Indian government asked messaging service WhatsApp to take necessary measures to prevent the spread of inciting content that has resulted in several incidents of mob lynchings in the subcontinent.

Saying the social media platform cannot evade its responsibility, the government said WhatsApp should prevent the spread of “irresponsible and explosive messages” through application of technology.

The government has “conveyed in no uncertain terms that WhatsApp must take immediate action to end this menace and ensure that their platform is not used for such malafide activities,” reported PTI.

When contacted, a WhatsApp spokesperson told the news agency that it “cares deeply about people’s safety and their ability to freely communicate. We don’t want our services used to spread harmful misinformation and believe this is a challenge that companies and societies should address. For example, we recently made a number of updates to our group chats and will be stepping up efforts to help people spot false news and hoaxes.”

India is an important market for WhatsApp, as the Facebook-owned company has 200 million users in India.