WhatsApp offers 50 thousand dollars to stop lynching

The number of people killed due to falsified messages and videos has increased to 27. The Delhi authorities call on senior management to badume their responsibilities. In the forms of project of collaboration with the police; new functions that block "the chains of Saint Anthony".

New Delhi (AsiaNews / Agencies) – WhatsApp, the famous online messaging platform, has decided to offer 50 thousand dollars to the Indian authorities to counter the spread of new counterfeits. The decision comes following the tough call of the Delhi government, worried about recent episodes of lynching by crowds aroused by fake news circulating on the digital application.

The number of people killed on unfounded charges continues to rise. Investigators report that at least 27 Indians were murdered because of fake text and video messages and then forwarded to the WhatsApp channel. Most of the victims were charged without any evidence of kidnapping, stealing and badual abuse. The violence has mainly affected foreigners, unknown to the local population, or who do not speak the regional dialect

With its 200 million users, India is the largest market for foreigners. well known application that counts worldwide. 1.5 million members. Authorities complain that when news begins to surround social media, it is difficult to slow down their spread. For this reason, two days ago, Shankar Prasad, Minister of Electronics and Informatics, issued a note in which he defined the circulation of messages created as "unacceptable" for the sole purpose of provoke and incite the crowd. Then he invited the leaders of the request to take serious measures and "not to free themselves of their responsibilities and obligations" to curb the dissemination of false news.

Given the seriousness of the incidents, WhatsApp management decided to come forward, especially in view of the 2019 general election where "hate broadcasters" could create even more confusion for personal purposes. The company informs that it wants to set up a program in collaboration with the police; then he tests a new function that would block the retransmission (in English "forward") of falsified messages (the famous "chains of Saint Anthony"); Finally, he wants to add a new icon that allows chat administrators to check the published texts.