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The lynching of a woman in central India because rumor had it that she was part of a kidnapping gang of kids forced WhatsApp to impose a limit on messages transmitted.
This follows a public relations nightmare for Facebook's email service after the Indian government recently accused WhatsApp of transmitting messages fueling the deadly rumors.
Lynch mobs in India have killed 21 people in the past two months over unsubstantiated allegations transmitted on WhatsApp, AFP reports. has now announced restrictions on the ability of users in India to transmit content, as the latest attempt to reduce crowd violence spurred by rumors broadcast by the very popular application.
In India, the shipping limit is five cats at a time. For WhatsApp users outside of India, the shipping limit will be 20.
India, a nation of 1.25 billion people, is not foreign to collective violence, with well documented cases of crowds making victims for all transgressions.
But the spread of smartphones – there are more than a billion handsets, and the data is cheap – even in the most remote corners has allowed to share the rumors at the speed of l & # 39; flash.
A transgender woman, two picnickers, an elderly woman distributing chocolates to children, and a 27-year-old computer engineer.
The rumor of a large number of recent incidents emerged more than a year ago in eastern India.
Seven people were killed in two attacks in as many days. In February of this year, rumors resurfaced at 1600 km in the west of India and reached the south in May. It was often accompanied by a grainy video meant to show men riding motorcycles children
The film was actually drawn from a Pakistani public security film.
Other pictures purporting to show dead Indian children with their stolen organs were actually, Syrians killed in a gas attack.
India is the largest WhatsApp market with over 200 million users. In rural communities, it is often the main way to access the Internet
The last lynching took place a few days after the highest court in India asked for immediate measures to control murderous violence across the country
. also removes the fast forward button next to the multimedia messages on its application.
"We believe that these changes – which we will continue to evaluate – will help keep WhatsApp as it was designed: a private messaging application" The company said in a blog post on its website.
FIGHT FALSE RUMOR
The Indian government announced Monday that it was setting up two committees to recommend appropriate ways to deal with the growing violence of the mob.
Previously, authorities had badembled suspects and formed patrols, going from village to village to quell rumors.
Authorities in some states shut down Internet access in a desperate effort to stop the hoax. ading.
But the campaigns had a limited effect. In one case, an official "rumor breaker" was himself beaten to death.
The Supreme Court of India told the government this week to make a new law to curb the "mobocracy"
Its fire on WhatsApp, calling the firm to take "immediate action".
WhatsApp stated that he was "horrified" by the lynchings, and announced new features to help users identify the messages that were transmitted.
The firm owned full-page ads in Indian newspapers offering advice to its 200 million users in the country to separate facts from fiction.
Last week, the government again released a threatening lawsuit this time. WhatsApp announced its restrictions the next day
LYNCHING LAST
At least 14 people were arrested in the Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh following the murder of the woman, who was about 25 years old, Riyaz Iqbal said residents informed the police on Saturday that a woman's body was in a wooded area.
It is believed that the woman was taken Friday night by a crowd who dragged her to a community center in the village. "
million. Iqbal said the woman had been seen wandering in nearby villages a few days earlier amid rumors that kidnapping gang members were active in the area
. had not been identified yet. "She has not been able to communicate properly with the crowd and, in all likelihood, she seems to have been mentally deficient," he said.
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