‘WhatsApp update that combats false information is not yet reaching Indian users’

Tagging forwarded messages in WhatsApp has so far had little effect in the areas where lynchings took place in India this summer following rumors on WhatsApp. Users in those areas do not update their apps.

Labeling forwarded messages is WhatsApp’s most important measure to prevent the spread of fake information via the chat service. The users for whom the function was mainly intended, people in rural India, do not seem to use the update yet, Buzzfeed writes in an extensive background article about the lynchings.

That’s because those users don’t have a Google account and don’t use the Play Store. They can use WhatsApp by sharing the apk file with each other through services that enable offline file sharing, such as Xender and SendIt.

WhatsApp maintains its position that it does not want to weaken privacy measures in the chat app to prevent further measures against the spread of disinformation. Buzzfeed writes that many users rely on information provision via WhatsApp, because they do not watch TV or have other media. Many of them cannot read or write and only view photos and videos in group chats.

The site mentions local initiatives to prevent future lynchings. This happens, among other things, with plays that recreate the WhatsApp rumors and the start of a lynching, after which a protagonist intervenes and tries to make it clear that a lot of fake information also reaches the villages via WhatsApp.

This summer, lynchings occurred in India following rumors on WhatsApp that child abductors were allegedly active. People who came into villages who resembled people from the ‘kidnappers’ videos faced violence and lynchings. After analysis, the videos turned out to have nothing to do with child abduction.

Sign warning of danger of lynching by WhatsApp rumours. Source: Buzzfeed