Reports of 'Whatsapp lynchings' fall in India after app changes rules on sharing messages

A police officer inspects a damaged vehicle in which two men were lynched in Karbi Anglong, India, in July. Abhijeet Nath and Nilotpal Das were beaten to death following the spread of child abduction rumours on WhatsApp

Biju Boro/AFP/Getty Images

James Morris

22 September 2018

Only one 'WhatsApp lynching" has been reported in India since creators of the app brought in new restrictions on sharing messages that incite violence.

Up to 40 people have died in India so far in 2018 amid a plague of smartphone-fuelled mob murders by "ordinary citizens."

WhatsApp brought in new rules in July to clamp down on group messages about alleged child abductors which whip up fear among citizens - resulting in random fatal attacks.

The app has more than 200 million users in the country. The new rules enforce a limit on the number of times messages can be forwarded to different people.

The last reported attack in India of this kind happened at the end of July. One man was said to have been killed.

An unidentified 29-year-old man was lynched in Dindori, in the heart of India, on July 28.

He had been accused of kidnapping children. His decomposed body was reportedly found down a well a week after the attack. Ten people are said to have been arrested on suspicion of his murder.

Nirjhari Sinha, chairman of the civil rights group Jan Sangharsh Manch and pictured at a protest against mob lynchings in July, told the Standard people carrying out the attacks are 'not criminals but ordinary citizens'

Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images

Activist Nirjhari Sinha told the Standard it was “difficult to say if there is a direct correlation” between the change in policy by WhatsApp and the drop in the number of killings.

Ms Sinha, who is chair of civil rights group Jan Sangharsh Manch, said the lynching of Shantadevi Nath in her home city is still fresh in the mind.

Mohinidevi Nath shows a phone photo of her cousin Shantadevi Nath, who was killed by a mob that falsely believed she was intent on abducting children in Ahmedabad

Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images

Ms Nath was part of a nomadic tribe, known as Madari, travelling into Ahmedabad in western India on June 26.

Ms Sinha recalled: “A mob of about 30 people attacked four women travelling in an auto rickshaw, on the suspicion they were child lifters. Shantadevi died.

“Those who killed her are also not criminals but ordinary citizens. They really fell for the WhatsApp forward.

Indian members of the Vaadi community protest in support of Shantadevi Nath

Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images

“The other women who were also attacked are shattered. They were obviously very scared, and feeling helpless, that one WhatsApp message can ruin their life. They are very poor and there is a long legal battle ahead.”

Ms Sinha, who led protests against the lynchings this summer, criticised a lack of action by the Indian authorities, saying it had been left to people like her to draw attention to the issue.

WhatsApp pledged to counter false information by limiting the amount of times messages can be forwarded

Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images

She said: “Approaches to solving this issue have mostly been decentralised and piecemeal. There is a lack of initiative at the central policy making level.

“Efforts have been sporadic and scattered, with the initiative mostly taken by local police stations and civil society representatives.”

Evening Standard has approached WhatsApp for comment. Under the tech giant's new restrictions, a single person can only forward a message five times. The "quick forward" button next to messages containing pictures or video has also been removed.

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