User information and not the medium is to blame: Experts

Don't shoot the messenger but treat information with a pinch of salt. This is how social media pundits want people to consume social media. Social media evangelists and fact checkers are against fixing the blame of Dhule lynching incident on media alone. They feel that we collectively as people are ill-equipped to handle social media in a more responsible fashion.

Jency Jacob, Managing Editor of fact-checking website Boom Live opines that technology is only one part of the larger problem.

"Unless you have that bent of mind, no one would resort to killing. These people are under the impression that the institutions who protect them are ill-equipped to protect them. Why would they attack the police otherwise? This is a huge social problem," said Jacob.

Jacob downplays Maharashtra government's grand plan to start a website to curb such rumours.

"They are not going to verify on government websites. The police are failing to gather intelligence. In case of Assam and Tamil Nadu incidents, the rumours went on for a while before the agencies sprung into action. This is a problem in policing," adds Jacob.

Experts feel that the police needs to be more pro-active rather than being reactive on WhatsApp. It is important for them to monitor trends, call community leaders and create awareness when they see such videos.

Technology has its own pitfalls, and society and government has to create awareness about it, feels Altnews Co-founder Pratik Sinha, "That is the role of the government. What did the government do after the Jharkhand lynchings that happened last year? Have they created an awareness program or a curriculum for the schools to follow," quips Sinha.

The problem Sinha feels stems from taking all information coming from social media on face value.

"Everything on social media is treated as sacrosanct and people need to know that it could be fake. WhatsApp rumours play on the insecurity, and its already reigning the society," adds Sinha.

Public relations expert and CEO of PR Hub Xavier Prabhu feels that smart use of data may do the police some good.

"No data states that the number of children kidnapped has gone up significantly. Hence, the extra vigilantism is not justified on ground facts. Social media alone cannot be blamed. People are also fueling rumours and word of mouth also plays a role in it," explains Prabhu.

Prabhu adds that data proves that in most cases children that go missing are found. The police need to communicate this success data with the people. It is then people will stop taking law in their own hands.