👓 How WhatsApp Destroyed A Village | BuzzFeed

Read How WhatsApp Destroyed A Village (BuzzFeed News)
In July, residents of a rural Indian town saw rumors of child kidnappers on WhatsApp. Then they beat five strangers to death.
This was a really well researched and laid out piece of journalism. Social companies are going to need some serious government regulation to help fix issues like these. They obviously can’t be trusted to self-regulate.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: When Facebook Rumors Incite Real Violence | New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: When Facebook Rumors Incite Real Violence by Michael Barbaro from nytimes.com

A series of damning posts on Facebook has stoked longstanding ethnic tensions in Sri Lanka, setting off a wave of violence largely directed at Muslims. How are false rumors on social media fueling real-world attacks?

On today’s episode:

• Max Fisher and Amanda Taub, who have reported on Sri Lanka for The New York Times.

Background reading:

• Fraudulent claims of a Muslim plot to wipe out Sri Lanka’s Buddhist majority, widely circulated on Facebook and WhatsApp, have led to attacks on mosques and Muslim-owned homes and shops in the country.

• Facebook’s algorithm-driven news feed promotes whatever content draws the most engagement — which tend to be the posts that provoke negative, primal emotions like fear and anger. The platform has allowed misinformation to run rampant in countries with weak institutions and a history of deep social distrust.

Why Nobody Cares the President Is Lying | The New York Times

Read Why Nobody Cares the President Is Lying (nytimes.com)
In the conservative media, we conditioned people not to trust facts or mainstream news outlets.
Continue reading Why Nobody Cares the President Is Lying | The New York Times