The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MEITY) has warned WhatsApp over the circulation of fake news on it’s app, which has led to a number of mob lynchings in the past few weeks. The ministry released a press release yesterday saying that recent killings of innocent people over provocative and irresponsibly circulated messages is deeply painful and regrettable. The ministry further says that the law and order bodies are going to look at the matter at their level but circulation of such messages over and over is a matter of serious concern. MEITY said that it has contacted WhatsApp’s senior management to look over the matter. Deep disapproval of such developments has been conveyed to the senior management of the WhatsApp and they have been advised that necessary remedial measures should be taken to prevent proliferation of these fake and at times motivated/sensational messages. The Government has also directed that spread of such messages should be immediately contained through the application of appropriate technology. Why this warning? This warning has come from the ministry after the recent episodes of mob lynchings that took place in multiple states that were happened due to widely circulated WhatsApp messages. The first two incidents of lynching in the series were reported from Tamil Nadu on May 10 and May 11. The two cases were reported within twenty four hours where first a man and then a 60 year old woman were attacked by the crowd in the district of Tiruvannamalai under the suspicion of…
