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BuzzFeed News @BuzzFeedNews
, 6 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
WhatsApp is a huge part of India’s social fabric. It's the country's most used app. Lately, it's been getting people killed.

Since May, there have been 16 lynchings leading to 29 deaths where officials say mobs were driven by misinformation on WhatsApp buzzfeednews.com/article/pranav…
Mob lynching isn’t new in India, but there’s little doubt that WhatsApp has exacerbated things: Users are whipping themselves into frenzies after viewing viral videos from unknown sources about supposed child abductors buzzfeednews.com/article/pranav…
“I’m more educated than people in my village so I didn’t believe the rumors.” an undergrad from a small village of 1,500 said. “But nobody in my village reads or watches TV. They only get updates from WhatsApp, so they didn’t know what to believe." buzzfeednews.com/article/pranav…
WhatsApp has taken steps to address the problem in India, limiting forwarding to just 5 people or groups. They've also launched a public awareness campaign to educate people on spotting misinformation buzzfeednews.com/article/pranav…
WhatsApp argues they shouldn't be responsible for what users share. But it raises questions of scale:

What happens when there are more than a billion people using the service? What happens when a call to violence can be shared instantly on these networks? buzzfeednews.com/article/pranav…
It's been a year of scandal and apology for Facebook, which owns WhatsApp. More on how they're shaping the world:

How Facebook Failed The Rohingya In Myanmar
buzzfeednews.com/article/meghar…

How Duterte Used Facebook To Fuel the Philippine Drug War
buzzfeednews.com/article/daveya…
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