Favour on mob lynching
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Yet another innocent man has lost his life to mob lynching instigated by a WhatsApp rumour. Last week in the Bidar district of Karnataka, a rumour on WhatsApp circulated about potential child kidnappers in the area led angry mobs to kill 32-year-old software engineer Mohammad Azam, and severely injure three other people. The police have arrested 34 people linked to the murder.
Earlier this month, when news of a horrific mob lynching in the Dhule district of Maharashtra was circulated, WhatsApp went on an extensive media drive to denouncing such rumours, laying out “easy steps” to spot fake news and announcing a new feature that marks forwarded messages.
Over the past few weeks, the instant messaging service has taken some flak from the Centre after a spate of lynching-related deaths facilitated by rumours spread through the app.
Admittedly, the Facebook-owned app should and will implement other safeguards against the proliferation of such inciting messages in the following weeks, but it won’t solve the problem of mob lynchings. That’s because WhatsApp isn’t the problem; the issue is the lack of state capacity.
It goes without saying that deaths due to mob lynching have long occurred in India. What do you think happened in all those horrific riots of the past?
The only difference today is the speed at which rumours are circulated on the messaging app. What remains unchanged is the state’s inability to maintain its monopoly on violence, leaving mobs to meet out their deluded form of ‘justice.’
Earlier this month, when news of a horrific mob lynching in the Dhule district of Maharashtra was circulated, WhatsApp went on an extensive media drive to denouncing such rumours, laying out “easy steps” to spot fake news and announcing a new feature that marks forwarded messages.
Over the past few weeks, the instant messaging service has taken some flak from the Centre after a spate of lynching-related deaths facilitated by rumours spread through the app.
Admittedly, the Facebook-owned app should and will implement other safeguards against the proliferation of such inciting messages in the following weeks, but it won’t solve the problem of mob lynchings. That’s because WhatsApp isn’t the problem; the issue is the lack of state capacity.
It goes without saying that deaths due to mob lynching have long occurred in India. What do you think happened in all those horrific riots of the past?
The only difference today is the speed at which rumours are circulated on the messaging app. What remains unchanged is the state’s inability to maintain its monopoly on violence, leaving mobs to meet out their deluded form of ‘justice.’
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