#mob killings

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/eSCJYm

NEW DELHI | India asks WhatsApp to prevent misuse after mob killings

NEW DELHI — India’s government says it has asked WhatsApp to take “immediate action” to prevent the social media platform from being misused to spread rumors and irresponsible statements like those blamed for recent deadly mob attacks in the country.

At least 20 people have been killed in mostly rural villages in several Indian states by attacking mobs that had been inflamed by social media. Victims were accused in the viral messages of belonging to gangs trying to abduct children. The brutal attacks, which began in early May, have also left dozens of people injured.

Although Indian authorities have clarified that there was no truth to the rumors and the targeted people were innocent, the deadly and brutal attacks, often captured on cellphones and shared on social media, have spread across the country.

India’s ministry of electronics and information technology said in a statement late Tuesday that the lynchings were tied to “irresponsible and explosive messages” circulated on WhatsApp. It wasn’t specific on the preventative measures it expected to be taken by WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook.

“While the law and order machinery is taking steps to apprehend the culprits, the abuse of platforms like WhatsApp for repeated circulation of such provocative content are equally a matter of deep concern,” the ministry said.

The ministry said WhatsApp “cannot evade accountability and responsibility.”

“The government has also conveyed in no uncertain terms that WhatsApp must take immediate action to end this menace and ensure that their platform is not used for such malafide activities,” the statement said. “Deep disapproval of such developments has been conveyed to the senior management of the WhatsApp and they have been advised that necessary remedial measures should be taken to prevent proliferation of these fake and at times motivated/sensational messages.”

WhatsApp said in a blog post that it would institute awards for research on “spread of misinformation” on its platform.

“We will seriously consider proposals from any social science and technological perspective that propose projects that enrich our understanding of the problem of misinformation on WhatsApp,” the post said.

The Indian Express, an English-language daily newspaper, quoted a WhatsApp spokesman as saying, “The situation is a public health problem which will require solutions from outside the company as well, including the government.”

The official said that the “responsibility is beyond any one technology company” and “requires partners,” according to the paper.

“I think it’s up to the Indian government to decide what is the right mechanism to address the spate of killing that is occurring. It is going to have to be a collaboration,” the official said.

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New Post has been published on https://is.gd/eSCJYm

NEW DELHI | India asks WhatsApp to prevent misuse after mob killings

NEW DELHI — India’s government says it has asked WhatsApp to take “immediate action” to prevent the social media platform from being misused to spread rumors and irresponsible statements like those blamed for recent deadly mob attacks in the country.

At least 20 people have been killed in mostly rural villages in several Indian states by attacking mobs that had been inflamed by social media. Victims were accused in the viral messages of belonging to gangs trying to abduct children. The brutal attacks, which began in early May, have also left dozens of people injured.

Although Indian authorities have clarified that there was no truth to the rumors and the targeted people were innocent, the deadly and brutal attacks, often captured on cellphones and shared on social media, have spread across the country.

India’s ministry of electronics and information technology said in a statement late Tuesday that the lynchings were tied to “irresponsible and explosive messages” circulated on WhatsApp. It wasn’t specific on the preventative measures it expected to be taken by WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook.

“While the law and order machinery is taking steps to apprehend the culprits, the abuse of platforms like WhatsApp for repeated circulation of such provocative content are equally a matter of deep concern,” the ministry said.

The ministry said WhatsApp “cannot evade accountability and responsibility.”

“The government has also conveyed in no uncertain terms that WhatsApp must take immediate action to end this menace and ensure that their platform is not used for such malafide activities,” the statement said. “Deep disapproval of such developments has been conveyed to the senior management of the WhatsApp and they have been advised that necessary remedial measures should be taken to prevent proliferation of these fake and at times motivated/sensational messages.”

WhatsApp said in a blog post that it would institute awards for research on “spread of misinformation” on its platform.

“We will seriously consider proposals from any social science and technological perspective that propose projects that enrich our understanding of the problem of misinformation on WhatsApp,” the post said.

The Indian Express, an English-language daily newspaper, quoted a WhatsApp spokesman as saying, “The situation is a public health problem which will require solutions from outside the company as well, including the government.”

The official said that the “responsibility is beyond any one technology company” and “requires partners,” according to the paper.

“I think it’s up to the Indian government to decide what is the right mechanism to address the spate of killing that is occurring. It is going to have to be a collaboration,” the official said.

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Reps Task Police On Increased Rate Of Jungle Justice

Lawmakers Ask Police To Tackle Cases Of Jungle Justice Plenary section – House of reps

Members of the  House of Representatives has beckoned on the Nigeria Police Force to intensify investigations into rising cases of jungle justice and mob killings being witnessed nationwide.

This call by the lower chamber was as a result of a motion which was unanimously adopted by the house members today…

I am Christian. I have continued to speak against the continued gross inhuman atrocities being meted to the Shittes in Northern Nigeria. The killing of the Shittes extrajudicial by State agents and by organized mob actions are callous and portray the country as an emerging banana country. How can Nigerians be so killed, their properties destroyed and their fundamental rights to worship, to…

The St Valentine’s Day Massacre **** (1967, Jason Robards, George Segal, Ralph Meeker) – Classic Movie Review 3896

Producer-director Roger Corman’s modish 1967 cult gangster movie version of the 14 February 1929 Chicago gang killings stars Jason Robards as the notorious Al Capone, leader of the Southside Mob, and Ralph Meeker as his deadly rival George ‘Bugs’ Moran. George Segal and David Canary play his lieutenants Peter and Frank Gusenberg.

Howard Browne’s knowledgeable screenplay conveys plenty of…

By:Trifonia Chagoma

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed worry with the increasing number of people killed in mob attacks in Malawi.

Cécile-Pouilly: UN Condemn Mob Killings

In a statement released by Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Cécile Pouilly while it welcomes President Arthur Mutharika’s 30th March statement, UN has strongly condemned these crimes and call on all citizens, NGOs and Government agencies to support the Malawi police in its fight against mob killings in accordance with the rule of law.

Cécile Pouilly urge the authorities in Malawi to act promptly to identify and prosecute those involved in mob killings, and to offer remedy to victims. The authorities must address the root causes of such attacks and launch an awareness campaign to encourage people to report crimes to police and not take the law into their own hands.

Over the past two months, there has been nine reported incidents across the country leading to the deaths of 16 people.

On 28th March, a mob stormed a police station, grabbed a man accused of murder out of his cell and killed him in Dedza, a city located some 85 km away from the capital, Lilongwe.

In by far the worst incident reported this year, seven people accused of possessing human bones were attacked and set on fire by a mob on 1st March in Southern Malawian border district of Nsanje.  On 25th January, four elderly members of the same family were also beaten and killed by a mob in Neno District, after being accused of using witchcraft to kill a 17-year-old woman by lightning.

In a separate incident, on 3rd February, residents of a township in Blantyre, Malawi’s second largest city, set fire to a Court, apparently out of fear that it would grant bail to three men suspected of murder. In the same city, an angry mob set two suspected criminals on fire after severely beating them.