Should WhatsApp be held accountable for lynchings?

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Should WhatsApp be held accountable for lynchings?

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• FIRST PERSPECTIVE: YES.

1. Primary responsibility to fix the lynching problem is of the law-enforcement agencies.  
2. Mobs run amok when they are confident that law will not assert itself. There is always a leader, and mobs are not naturally formed out of nowhere.
3. Shutting the internet down is the preferred mode. In 2017, India saw 70 shutdowns (Software Freedom Law Centre). But it’s a suspension of the constitutional right of free speech. 
4. Mostly smaller towns face shutdowns, not metros. Maximum shutdowns have been in BJP run states. The capacity of the law enforcement agencies in smaller towns too is not upto the mark.
5. Anti-lynching law may not help if prosecution cannot happen quickly and effectively.
6.  WhatsApp (and others) cannot be legally accountable for the messages sent through them, but these platforms can help ensure accountability of users who send those messages.
7. Changes needed: Messages should be either public or private. Messages between individuals must remain private (cannot be forwarded). Public messages have to specially created, and allotted a proper ID linked to original creator. WhatsApp can shut down such messages instantly across the network.

• SECOND PERSPECTIVE : NO.

1. Social media’s destructive power is on display. But messaging platforms are only one actor in a chain of malafide content that is being spread.
2. Chain’s elements are – people creating the content (lot of effort), mobile messaging platforms, people forwarding the content, people organizing the mobs, and law-and-order authorities.
3. The 2012 case of mass exodus of northeastern people from Bengaluru is a case in point. People learnt how to spread hate, and then began trying it across India. And then – on institutions themselves!
4. Forcing WhatsApp will prompt these destructive forces to simply switch over to some other platform (Bengaluru was done via MMS)
5. India has witnessed the maximum violence through mobile messaging, worldwide. Why is that so? Obviously some vested interests are doing it continuously. But bigger reason is that there is a huge number of gullible citizens that easily falls prey. And a huge bunch of highly educated people too.
6. Educate the public urgently. Develop SOPs. Without proper regulatory response, nothing will work.

• THIRD PERSPECTIVE: MAYBE.

1. Getting into a blame game is not advisable. Many voices are loudly heard given the number of people who’ve lost their lives to mobs.
2. There’s a loud noise about holding WhatsApp responsible! So that is like blaming the messenger and not looking into the mirror. 
3. Vigilantism is the failure of the most basic faith people must have in law and order. Since governments will never accept it is due to that, they look for scapegoats! Foreign companies are the easiest ones.
4. If law and order regime is actually, rigorously implemented and imposed, how can lynch mobs operate so regularly?
5. The Apple – FBI tussle over encryption teaches us that we have to appreciate how the platforms work. WhatsApp is a hugely powerful system as everyone has learnt (and started to exploit). It must try to find ways to regulate intense emotional content.
6. Do not allow people to be added to groups without consent. Fix this, and a lot of problems end.

• Summary : Three perspectives on whether WhatsApp can be held responsible for lynchings in India.

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