There is an increasing proof that what we share information online ends up causing a huge upset to people in real life, especially in Whatsapp. The social media application came under fire recently when 5 people were lynched to death over Whatsapp-based rumours. So far, at least 23 people have been lynched or attacked recently in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Tripura.
If sources are to be believed, around 26 people have been victims to rumours spread on Whatsapp. In an attempt to bring all these things to a close, Whatsapp has announced that it will offer a whopping $50,000 (34,42,250.00 Indian Rupee) to those who can extend their support to the social media giant to counter fake news circulation in the wake of mob killing.
The Facebook-owned social media platform has been under immense pressure from the Indian government in the wake of mob lynchings owing to the spread of false news. WhatsApp had recently announced that they added a new feature which will allow the admins of WhatsApp groups to control who can post. It is learnt that it is testing a feature that would label “forwards.”
The biggest mistake people make in today’s world is forwarding the message to others without even knowing whether the source is genuine or fake. First of all, one needs to trust the source from where they are getting information. According to a survey, more than 20 crore people are on Whatsapp, which literally means that 1 person out of every person is using Whatsapp application.
