Fake news on WhatsApp is inciting lynchings in India

Fake news isn't just an American problem, or a political problem, or a Facebook problem or a Twitter problem. Yesterday, the Washington Post reports five people were killed in a lynching in India spurred by online rumors of child trafficking. The Times of India said police believe that because of rumors traffickers were active in the area, villagers killed the group after one of them spoke to a child. It's the latest in a series of violent incidents in the country that have left twelve dead over the last month, all connected to fake messages on social media, which have mainly spread through the messaging service WhatsApp.

Most of the perpetrators are villagers and many are using smartphones for the first time who are incited to violence by rumors suggesting certain persons are organ or child traffickers. Local authorities have attempted to combat the spread of fake news by warning the populace and even paying street performers and 'rumor busters' to visit villages and preach caution. While addressing a crowd, one of the latter died at the hands of a mob last Thursday.

This is far from the first violence caused by the spread of fake news online. But it is alarming to see so many deaths caused by those new to social media who don't know to be skeptical of scams and deception. And it's happened before, with horrific consequences.

The surging public sentiment and homicidal violence that pushed 650,000 of Myanmar's Muslim Rohingya minority out of the country was fueled by hate speech that spread online like wildfire, primarily through Facebook. Less than one percent of its population had internet access in 2014, but today, a quarter of the country's 53 million people use Facebook. Given its quick adoption and use by the government to convey public messages, it's no wonder that UN human rights experts believe the social network played a role in the spread of hate speech, according to Reuters.

In the last few days, the Facebook-owned WhatsApp has given group administrators control over which members can post messages. But it's harder to monitor what users are saying in those messages, given the service's end-to-end encryption.

"WhatsApp is working to make it clear when users have received forwarded information and provide controls to group administrators to reduce the spread of unwanted messages in private chats," WhatsApp spokesperson Carl Woog told The Washington Post. "We've also seen people use WhatsApp to fight misinformation, including the police in India, news organizations and fact checkers. We are working with a number of organizations to step up our education efforts so that people know how to spot fake news and hoaxes circulating online."

Source: The Washington Post



via Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/2lLU8f4
RSS Feed

If New feed item from http://www.engadget.com/rss-full.xml, then send me

IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Evernote cuts staff as user growth stalls

Image
Note-taking app Evernote has fallen on hard times of late, culminating in its latest spate of job cuts impacting 15 percent of its workforce (54 employees). CEO Chris O' Neil -- an ex-Googler who took the reins in 2015 -- announced the firings at an all-hands meeting earlier today, reports TechCrunch . In a message on the Evernote blog , O' Neill admitted he'd set "incredibly aggressive goals" for the company in 2018. He continued: "Going forward, we are streamlining certain functions, like sales, so we can continue to speed up and scale others, like product development and engineering." The layoffs follow an exec exodus just weeks ago and the company's recent brand refresh (complete with a refined logo and wordmark). But critics are more concerned about its product, especially the free tier, which they claim lacks the perks to
Read more

The best air conditioner

Image
By Liam McCabe This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After six summers of researching, testing, and recommending window air conditioners, we've learned that quiet and affordable ACs make most people the happiest—and we think the LG LW8016ER will fit the bill in most rooms. This 8,000 Btu unit cools as efficiently and effectively as any model with an equal Btu rating, and runs at a lower volume and deeper pitch than others at this price. Little extra features like a fresh-air vent, two-axis fan blades, and a removable drain plug help set it apart, too. The LG LW8016ER is a top choice for an office or den, and some people will find it quiet enough for a bedroom, too. If our main pic
Read more

We won't see a 'universal' vape oil cartridge anytime soon

Image
Pre-loaded cartridges of cannabis concentrate are currently among the most popular means of consumption, and for good reason. They're discreet to use and easy to handle, a far cry from the dark days of 2016 when we had to dribble hash oil or load wax into narrow-mouthed vape pens by hand. But, frustratingly, an ever increasing number of oil cartridge manufacturers employ one-off design standards so that their products won't work with those of their competitors, thereby locking customers into proprietary ecosystems. We've already seen this with nicotine vaporizers -- which has a seen a massive rise in "pod systems" in the last few years, each outfitted with a unique canister and battery built to be incompatible with those of their competition. Is it too late for the burgeoning cannabis industry to set a universal standard for their product designs?
Read more