resister (12-11-2017)
“Even after these efforts … these mob lynchings are continuing.”
Mobs are killing people in India based on false rumors spread through WhatsApp
Jul 15,`18 - More than a dozen people in India have died since May because mobs are believing viral messages from WhatsApp that accuse people of child trafficking, organ harvesting or other egregious acts.
Despite efforts by the company to intervene, innocent people in India are being murdered by aspiring vigilantes who are falling prey to false information spread through the popular messaging application WhatsApp. India is WhatsApp’s largest market, where more than 200 million people use it, often as their main form of communication and sending billions of messages a day. But many of its users are also inexperienced with smart phones and vulnerable to misinformation that spreads fast through the app. More than a dozen people have been killed since May by mobs convinced by messages that the people they are lynching are guilty of child trafficking, organ harvesting or other egregious acts.
The company WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, is publishing newspaper advertisements about fake news and disclosing when a post is forwarded, which can help indicate whether it is real. But the core appeal of WhatsApp is that it allows people communicate with encryption, which makes communication difficult to regulate. And as India Bureau Chief Annie Gowen of the Washington Post reports, despite the company’s efforts, another person was killed because of these viral messages on Friday. A tech employee working in Hyderabad and his friends were returning to his native village in the state Karnataka when they ran into a mob that, because of rumors spread on the app, was convinced they were child kidnappers.
The tech worker and his friends were able to drive away, but then details about their van spread fast enough for the mob to stop them and kill one of the men inside. “Even after these efforts,” Gowen said, “these mob lynchings are continuing.” She said people in these communities are making grassroot efforts to debunk rumors before the mobs start forming. Police, she said, are setting up their own WhatsApp groups so people can check in to see if the information is accurate.
And in some villages, people are making announcements over loudspeakers, asking WhatsApp users to be wary of the messages they’re receiving. The biggest problem, Gowen said, is digital illiteracy, because a lot of the people falling prey are in less-accessible areas and do not have a robust understanding of how digital information is disseminated and spreads. The Indian Government told WhatsApp earlier this month that it needed to address the issue, but the government at the central level “has been stymied” because of the circumstances, she said.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/m...rough-whatsapp
Electronics is certainly another path addiction can take. I have recognized that for decades . Probably some related engineering involved like with tobacco. As for ripping apart society that might be a bit dramatic on his part. I do think that most people don't understand the massive loss of privacy when they plug in. Privacy the government and the megacorps are only to happy to invade. No shocker there.
I don't know that I agree that it's ripping apart society. These phones and emails are dramatically changing the way people interact. I have had judges tell me that they try to get these young lawyers to open their mouths but they are afraid. They don't know how to communicate in person. They are great on paper but when it comes time to open and communicate, they just can't do it. I have noticed lately that people sit at lights and text, drive on the highway and text, sit in restaurants and text. Drives me nuts. Standing rule in my family if the daughters are with Mrs. U and I for lunch or dinner: phones stay in car.
Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect. -- Woody Hayes
WhatsApp limits service to counter Indian rumor-led lynchings
WhatsApp limits India service to counter rumor-led lynchings
July 20, 2018 -- Social messaging platform WhatsApp announced new rules in India on Friday to counter the rise of lynchings tied to messaged rumors.
More than 20 people have died in India in the past two months after viral messages falsely accused visitors of child kidnapping and other crimes. Five men, members of a nomadic group, were lynched early this month in India's Maharashtra state. They were accused of being a child abduction ring after one man spoke to a local girl. "Since the villagers were not satisfied with their answers, they took the men to a room and started beating them with bamboo sticks and stones," police official M. Ramkumar told BBC News.
Messaging service WhatsApp announced changes in service in India Friday, where rumors have led to the lynchings of at least 20 people.
WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, said Thursday it will restrict users' capacity to forward content to five other "chats" at once, and remove a "quick forward button" feature allowing media messages to be passed on quickly. WhatsApp has 200 million users in India. "WhatsApp has become an addiction in India. The kind of fake news being spread through these platforms is scary and is getting out of control," Prakash Singh, Police Foundation of India chairman, told Al Jazeera. "Police are being called to put out these fires but it's is the platform which is letting fires spread in the first place. The police have been struggling to prevent these rumors from spreading."
Earlier this week, India's Supreme Court requested new laws to deal with the lynchings. Zafar Islam, spokesman for the ruling Bharatiya Janata party, said the government "is doing everything to ensure WhatsApp and other social media are not misused by vigilante groups or random mobs."
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-N...l&utm_medium=8