India's WhatsApp lynchings

in india •  7 years ago 

This is not a fairytale. Not a pleasant story. WhatsApp, the messenger of choice for an Indian population which is discovering the internet for the first time, has been used to spread rumours at industrial scale. One rumour of a child lifter on the prowl in particular has reportedly taken 29 lives since May last year. Random strangers have been lynched on suspicion of child-kidnapping from Tripura to Tamil Nadu.

This isn't about India-Pakistan. Not about Hindu-Muslim. Not even caste. There's no insurgent behind the deaths. And there's little outrage.

Cheaper internet data has resulted in more & more people who won't think twice before spreading rumour. A video from Pakistan designed to educate people against child-kidnapping has an edited version circulating in India. This edited version has been blamed for fuelling India's WhatApp lynchings.

Here's a video report on it:

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