After lynching spree in India, WhatsApp offers tips to spot fake news

Agencies

July 10, 2018

New Delhi, Jul 10: WhatsApp took out full-page advertisements in Indian newspapers on Tuesday offering "easy tips" to identify fact from fiction after a slew of recent murders spurred by hoaxes shared on its platform.

The Facebook-owned messaging service has been under immense pressure to curb the spread of misinformation in India after the lynching of more than 20 people accused of child abduction in the last two months.

Most recently a mob surrounded and killed five men in Maharashtra state denounced as child kidnappers, a pernicious rumour blamed for similar murders in at least 11 Indian states.

WhatsApp said it was "horrified" by the violence and promised swift action but Indian authorities have accused the social media giant of acting irresponsibly in its largest market.

The slick adverts in leading English and Hindi language newspapers, entitled "together we can fight false information", listed 10 tips for users seeking to sort truth from rumour.

"Do not pay attention to the number of times you receive the message. Just because a message is shared many times, does not make it true," offer one of the tidbits of advice.

It also suggested users cross-check information against reputable news sources and not share the messages further if they doubt their authenticity.

WhatsApp will soon launch a new feature on its platform in India that will clearly identify whether a message has been forwarded or written by the user.

Indian officials said the company could not "evade accountability and responsibility".

WhatsApp has said it can block spam but cannot read the content of messages for privacy reasons, including potentially problematic content spreading in user chats.

Rumours on WhatsApp about child kidnappers saw eight men killed in eastern Indian last year but the same information has since resurfaced.

Spam messages warning parents about child kidnapping gangs have sprung up in multiple regional languages in India in recent months, sometimes accompanied by gruesome videos of child abuse.

Police in several states have denied the existence of such criminal groups.

India is WhatsApp's largest market, with an estimated 200 million users sending a billion encrypted messages each day.

Comments

People + GOvt + Whatsapp initiative must for controling fake news

How whatsapp and govt can control such fake news..! continously monitoring personal data+messages..?

If people dont want to share such things, they wouldnt do before also. People want to make controversies and issues. So they are sharing. Legal action should take

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Netizens target BJP after video of Sangh Parivar ‘man’ in burqa goes viral

coastaldigest.com news network

June 16,2020

Vijayapura, June 16: Even as a video of a man wearing a burqa who is being thrashed by locals is going viral on social media, netizens targeted Bharatiya Janata Party for their activist resorting to heinous acts.

The man who was caught in burqa has been identified as Siddu Paragond, an activist of Snagh Parivar hailing from Sindgi town in Karnataka’s Vijayapura district.

The bizarre incident took place in Sindgi on June 11 outside a bank.

“While people including women were standing in a queue outside the bank, the person in burqa was acting in a suspicious manner. The person was trying to get too close to women which was making them feel awkward,” local residents said.

“Getting suspicious, some locals tried to interact and their suspicion rose with the strange behaviour of the person. Suddenly some men took the person away from the bank and checked only to find that it was a man in burqa. The men thrashed him and handed him over to police,” the sources said.

Confirming this, Superintendent of Police Anupam Agrawal said that the Siddu Paragond has been arrested and remanded to judicial custody. He, however, made it clear that no suspicious objects were found on Siddu. “We are trying to find out the motive for his act,” the SP said.

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Finally mentally not fit

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COVID-19: Karnataka govt issues revised guidelines for international returnees

News Network

August 8,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 8: Karnataka government on Friday issued revised guidelines for international returnees.

According to the guidelines, all the travelers shall submit self-declaration form on the Yatri Karnataka online portal at least 72 hours before the scheduled date of travel.

"All travelers shall submit Self-declaration forrn on the Yatri Karnataka online portal (http://www,covidwar.karnataka.gov.in or http://parihara.kaarnateka.gov.in/service38/) least 72 hours before the scheduled date of travel," it read.

It said that Before Boarding Do's and Don, about COV1D-19 quarantine, testing, etc. shall be provided along with ticket to the travellers by the travel agencies concerned.

All passengers shall download Arogya Setu app, Quarantine watch app end Apthamitra App on their mobile devices, (https://covid-19.karnataka.gov.in/new-page/softwares/en).

At the time of boarding the flight/ ship, only asymptomatic travellers shall be allowed in board after thermal screening.

"Deboarding should be done by ensuring physical distancing of two meters.

Self-declaration form shall be obtained from each passenger in duplicate," the guidelines read.

Karnataka has 75,076 active cases of the virus with 80,281 recovered and 2,897 deaths so far.

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Air India Express opens bookings from India to UAE

coastaldigest.com news network

July 9,2020

Dubai, Jul 9: Air India Express has opened ticket bookings for flights from India to the UAE from July 12 to 26. The carrier posted the announcement on its social media pages.

“INDIA to UAE - Flights are open for sale! Bookings could be made through our website (http://airindiaexpress.in), call centre or authorised travel agents. Visit http://blog.airindiaexpress.in for more details,” the budget airline tweeted.

A clause mentioned in the flyer attached to the post added that only UAE residents with permits to return from India can book flights.

Thousands of Indian expats have been waiting to book flights back to the UAE after being stuck home for about four months due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Vande Bharat Mission flights

Under the fourth phase of Vande Bharat Mission, as many as 104 flights will be operating between UAE and India.

The Air India announced this on Twitter under a post “#FlyAI : Important Information for ICA approved UAE residents who wish to travel to UAE on Vande Bharat Mission flights.”

A flyer attached to the post addressed passengers who wish to travel to UAE on flights being operated under Vande Bharat Mission by Air India and Air India Express in pursuance of agreement between Civil Aviation authorities of India and the UAE.

“AI and AIE operating evacuation flights to Indian citizens from the UAE to India will carry ICA approved UAE residents (returning to the UAE from India) on the outward journey from India to the UAE.”

“On the India-UAE journey, all these flights will carry only those passengers who are destined for the UAE.”

“This arrangement will be operational for a period of 15 days from July 12 to 26,” the airline added.

While most of the Vande Bharat flights are operated by AIE, a few flights from Sharjah are operated by Air India.

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