IT Ministry Warns WhatsApp About Hoax Messages Following Dozens of Lynchins

With police departments in the country failing miserably to maintain law and lodge in their respective jurisdictions, the Indian IT ministry building is now laying the responsibility for the spate of brutal lynchings squarely at the door of social media sites and messaging apps, and has asked WhatsApp to end the spread of false and incendiary messages through its platform.

According to Reuters, the ministry on Tuesday issued a press statement, saying that it got into touch with WhatsApp to convey its concerns regarding the rise of fake news and unsubstantiated rumors. According to the statement, "Deep disapproval of such developments has been conveyed to the senior management of WhatsApp and they take been brash that necessary remedial measures should be taken".

While the police and guild machinery is taking steps to apprehend the culprits, the abuse of platform like WhatsApp for repeated circulation of such provocative content are equally a matter of deep business concern.

The Ministry farther said that the company "cannot evade accountability and responsibility" when its platform is driveling by users to spread rampant misinformation that are leading to the loss of innocent human being lives.

Reports on mainstream media in the state have linked dozens of recent lynchings and public assaults in a number of different states to fake, incendiary and often politically-motivated detest messages spread via WhatsApp groups.

Following the It Ministry'southward directive, WhatsApp released a statement, saying that it finds the growing cases of violence deeply disconcerting. "The company cares deeply about people'south safety and their power to freely communicate. Nosotros don't want our services to exist used for spreading harmful misinformation and believe this is a challenge that companies and societies should address", said the statement.

The developments follow a similar edict passed by the district magistrate of J&M's Kishtwar district, Angrez Singh Rana, who, in a supposed effort to curb the spread of rumors, final week issued a directive to all WhatsApp group admins to register with his office within the side by side 10 days, failing which, they will be held liable under various cyber-crime laws in the country.

It's worth noting here that rather than treating technology as a pariah that's responsible for these incidents, State Constabulary across Karnataka, Assam, Telangana and Kerala are embracing technology and designing social media campaigns to accomplish out to citizens and dissuade them from reacting violently to hoax messages.

Source: https://beebom.com/it-ministry-warns-whatsapp-hoax-messages/

Posted by: scottsuponall.blogspot.com

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