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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

Suresh
 - 
Tuesday, 10 Jul 2018

People + GOvt + Whatsapp initiative must for controling fake news

Farooq
 - 
Tuesday, 10 Jul 2018

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

Kumar
 - 
Tuesday, 10 Jul 2018

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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News Network
February 18,2020

Kasaragod, Feb 18: Police have seized counterfeit notes of Rs 45 lakh from a resident here on Tuesday.

The accused Muhammed, a native of Perla, has been taken into custody for carrying the prohibited currency and the police is investigating the crime.

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News Network
April 26,2020

Mangaluru, Apr 26: City Police Commissioner P S Harsha on Sunday said that the news about the implementation of seal down in some wards of Mangaluru city is fake and urged the public not to pay any heed to it.

Taking to twitter, Mr Harsha wrote, ''Some miscreants are floating some old speculative…TV news reports of seal down in some wards of Mangaluru city. It’s fake news.....Don’t Heed to fake news.''

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News Network
July 29,2020

New Delhi, July 29: The government of India today announced Unlock 3.0, lifting of night curfew from August 1 and opening of yoga institutes and gymnasiums from August 5 while educational institutes will remain closed throughout August.

According to the Unlock 3.0 guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the lockdown in containment zones will be extended until August 30. The new guidelines will be in effect from August 1.

The operation of Metro rail and international flights will remain suspended. Cinema halls, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars, auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places will remain shut. Large gatherings are also prohibited.

Yoga institutes and gymnasiums will start operating from August 5 for which the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will be issuing Standard Operating Procedures. 

Independence Day celebrations will be held with social distancing norms in place.

Restrictions on the movement of individuals during the night (Night curfew between 10 PM and 5 AM) have been removed.

According to the order, states have been given powers to prohibit certain activities outside containment zones or impose such restrictions as deemed necessary based on their assessment of the situation.

"However, there shall be no restriction on inter-state and intra-state movement of persons and goods. No separate permission/approval/e-permit will be required for such movements," the order said. 

In the previous two Unlock guidelines, the government had substantially opened various activities.

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