Indian govt warns WhatsApp as fake news triggers lynching

The Indian government has asked popular messaging app WhatsApp to take urgent steps to prevent the circulation of "irresponsible and explosive content" that have led to a series of lynching by mobs that left 12 people dead across the country in the past few weeks.

Conveying its "deep disapproval" to the top brass of WhatsApp, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said in a statement on Tuesday evening that the Facebook-owned company "cannot evade accountability and responsibility."

"Instances of lynching of innocent people have been noticed recently because of large number of irresponsible and explosive messages filled with rumours and provocation are being circulated on WhatsApp. The unfortunate killing in many states such as Assam, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tripura and West Bengal are deeply painful and regrettable," the statement said.

False messages about child abductors on WhatsApp have sparked lynching by mobs of more than a dozen people across India and at least three of the victims have died.

In the latest incident, five people were beaten to death by a mob in western Indian state of Maharashtra on Sunday on suspicions that they were child traffickers.

Local authorities have tried to check spread of rumours by deploying street performers and 'rumour busters' in villages but one of the performers was killed in Tripura on Thursday last.

The ministry said while the law and order machinery is taking steps to apprehend the culprits, "the abuse of platform like WhatsApp for repeated circulation of such provocative content is equally a matter of deep concern," it said.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has taken serious note of these irresponsible messages and their circulation in such platforms.

"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," according to the statement.

The government has also directed that spread of such messages should be immediately contained through the application of appropriate technology.

With more than 200 million users, India is WhatsApp's biggest market in the world. But rumours and videos circulating on the messaging app have become a new headache for the Facebook already grappling with a breach of privacy scandal.