WhatsApp Wakes up: After lynching incidents, sets off ad campaign to 'spread happiness, not falsehoods'

WhatsApp has finally woken up from its slumber.

It has begun a campaign--Khushiyaan baantiye, Afwaahein nahin.

If translated from Urdu to English, it says--spread happiness, not falsehoods.

After rumours and false propaganda was spread on this platform for long, it has apparently bowed to pressure.

Government of India had also asked it to contain the spread of hate and rumours that resulted in incidents of lynchings.

The rumours about cow or gangs on the prowl to abduct kids, had led to attacks, lynchings and even deaths.

A techie was killed in Karnataka. In fact, many other such serious incidents of law-and-order failure took place because of WhatsApp and the rumours spread through the platform.

Inside WhatsApp groups, people share content with like minded people or friends-families. Apart from Facebook, it is another major platform that can let any content go viral within a few hours.

Hence, there is need for more responsibility on part of WhatsApp. It has taken it years for the social media giant to run such an advertisement campaign. Now it is on TV and is also visible at other places.

Quite late. Had they been vigilant earlier, it may have saved lives. If people are aware that they may be caught, they are more cautious. In fact, WhatsApp need to do even more and be strict with people who spread false messages and share fake news.

Tendency to believe rumours, false propaganda is worrying: From Facebook hoaxes to propaganda during communal tension, riots

Why do we so easily believe rumours [afwah], false information, especially, those that talk about something bad, without demanding any proof.

For weeks, the hoax [two different ones] about FB privacy settings continued to circulate and people readily believed them, without even asking anyone, questioning or reading the articles that clearly said that this is hoax & denied by Facebook.

Even today, people keep posting the 'notices' about their privacy. Why do we fall for wrong information, propaganda, news about some impeding doom, so promptly?

Is it about our society? Or something about human mind. Just like in times of communal tension, many believe firmly whatever rumours that circulate.

Worst propaganda is readily accepted as truth while reality in front of your eyes, you ignore and doesn't hit you hard enough to make an impression on mind.

In this case, where people feared that Facebook would bypass their security and privacy settings to reveal their photographs, they should have realised that even if it were true, posting such content on your timeline won't help.

Facebook won't be reading individual posts and IT WAS NOT A PETITION, signing which would be understandable. Still, either on the streets or social media, people react strangely, believing things without verifying or checking.

Don't fall prey to rumours during communal tension

I remember, long back during a communal riot, there was a rumour that girls of one community were targeted and their breasts were severed by members of other community.

The rumour was readily believed by the sanest people. In every household people were talking about it and it circulated in both communities, who believed that an incident had occurred and both felt that victims were 'their girls' and 'assailants were other'

Does human brain fall for dark things & is more prone to believing untrue, far-fetched, things?