WhatsApp Updates Controls in India in an Effort to Thwart Mob Violence

as declared in In India — the nation where people forward more WhatsApp content than anywhere else — WhatsApp-spread fake news is inciting mob violence and literally getting people killed. On Thursday, WhatsApp announced in a blog post that it plans to make several changes in an effort to prevent more violence. They'll also no longer be able to forward content to more than five chats at a time. Over the past two months, violent mobs have attacked two dozen people in India after WhatsApp users spread rumors that those people had abducted children. READ MORE: WhatsApp Launches New Controls After Widespread App-Fueled Mob Violence in India [The Washington Post]More on fake news: Massive Study of Fake News May Reveal Why It Spreads so Easily

India WhatsApp rumors: Mob kills man in latest attack, 30 arrested

New Delhi (CNN) Indian police arrested 30 people after a man was lynched by a huge mob incensed by rumors of child kidnapping spread on WhatsApp. One of the children screamed, alarming locals who -- inspired by rumors spread on social media about child kidnapping gangs -- confronted the men and accused them of attempting to abduct the children. The men fled, but were attacked by a mob of around 2,000 people a few miles ahead after messages were sent about them on WhatsApp. WhatsApp messages warning residents of possible kidnappers had been circulating in the area for 10 to 15 days. A day before the transgender attack, a man with mental health problems was beaten up in Pahadishareef, also in southern Hyderabad, over WhatsApp rumors that he was a member of a kidnap gang.

WhatsApp Limits Message Forwarding After India Mob Lynchings

As it stated in WhatsApp is to limit message forwarding for users around the globe after the feature was repeatedly used to spread false child-abductor rumors in India, which led to dozens of mob beatings. The encrypted-messaging app, owned by Facebook, hasn't revealed exactly what curbs will be placed on users outside of India but, inside the country—which is WhatsApp's biggest market—forwarded messages will be limited to five chats at a time and the quick forward button placed next to media messages will be removed. "We believe that these changes—which we'll continue to evaluate—will help keep WhatsApp the way it was designed to be: a private messaging app," WhatsApp said in a blog post Thursday, announcing its worldwide test of limits on forwards. At least 17 people have allegedly been killed in India over child-kidnapping rumors since April. In all of these cases, local police have said, the rumors were spread via WhatsApp.