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WhatsApp didn't destroy a village. People did, like they have always done when they've believed some random threat to be true, without checking the facts or doi
by wtmt 8y ago
WhatsApp didn't destroy a village. People did, like they have always done when they've believed some random threat to be true, without checking the facts or doing some investigation. All that technology, be it WhatsApp or any other platform, has done is made it easier and quicker for such rumors to spread.
What's required is a government initiative like on the lines of this educational video in this article. [1] There's no point trying to control WhatsApp or block it. If not WhatsApp, something else will take its place, and it'd be like an endless game of whack-a-mole. Hope the government focuses on awareness initiatives more than anything else. In India, we don't need further censorship, Internet shutdowns and such. We have too much of those already. (I know this statement will offend many people, but please examine facts first, starting with a search online)
[1]: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/e28058d5-13d9-4752-98a1-d8bba849426f https://www.buzzfeednews.com/e28058d5-13d9-4752-98a1-d8bba84...
- restlessmind247 8y agoI agree with you on the People being responsible for lynching, but I do not think awareness initiatives will be sufficient in the short term. As they will take generations to come into full effect. Instead greater respect for the law is more important. No matter what the people had thought about the five strangers they didn't have the power or the right to punish them. It will be a lot more viable to educate them to respect certain non ambiguous laws, such as murder being a crime regardless of what you think about the other person. While judging authenticity of a piece of information can be ambiguous and will take time to become affective.
- forgot-my-pw 8y agoWe shouldn't blame WhatsApp, but Facebook should try to work together with the local government if they haven't. This has been going on for a while: > Since May, there have been at least 16 lynchings leading to 29 deaths in India where public officials say mobs were incited by misinformation on WhatsApp.