NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the government to enact a new law and stem what it called “horrendous acts” of lynching, after some 22 people were killed by mobs this year.
Since February the country has seen a spate of mob lynchings, often in isolated areas where outsiders have been accused of child kidnapping and other crimes following fake rumors spread via WhatsApp.
The latest incident saw a Google engineer killed in a mob attack last week in the southern state of Karnataka and five people were lynched in neighboring Maharashtra on July 1.
Separately, fatal attacks have also been carried out on Muslims by so-called “cow protection” groups who roam highways inspecting livestock trucks. Cows are considered sacred by the majority Hindu community.
The Supreme Court Tuesday condemned the lynchings and asked states to take “preventive, punitive and remedial” measures to curb the trend.
“Horrendous acts of mobocracy cannot be allowed to become a new norm. It has to be curbed with an iron hand,” observed a bench headed by India’s chief justice Dipak Misra.
The parliament must make a law to deal with lynchings and punish offenders, it said.
“No citizen can take law into his hands or become a law onto himself,” the court ruled.
Lynchings based on misjudgment or malicious information are not a new phenomenon in India. But the spread of smartphones and Internet access in the country’s poorest and most isolated areas has exacerbated the problem.
Indian authorities have recently launched awareness campaigns and imposed Internet blackouts but the measures have had limited success so far.
The government has also taken WhatsApp to task for the “irresponsible and explosive messages” being shared among its 200 million Indian users — the company’s largest market.
WhatsApp, which said it was “horrified” by the violence in India, has introduced new features to help users identify messages that have been forwarded as opposed to written by someone they know.
Tehseen Poonawala, a social rights activist who had petitioned the court over lynchings, welcomed the court’s latest order.
“We hope this (law against lynching) becomes a reality. Such a law is really needed in the country,” he told reporters.
India’s top court demands government act to stop lynchings
India’s top court demands government act to stop lynchings
Swiss interior minister open to social media ban for children
- Detailed discussions will begin in the new year, supported by a report on the issue
ZURICH: Switzerland must do more to shield children from social media risks, Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider was quoted as saying on Sunday, signalling she was open to a potential ban on the platforms for youngsters.
Following Australia’s recent ban on social media for under-16s, Baume-Schneider told SonntagsBlick newspaper that Switzerland should examine similar measures.
“The debate in Australia and the EU is important. It must also be conducted in Switzerland. I am open to a social media ban,” said the minister, a member of the center-left Social Democrats. “We must better protect our children.”
She said authorities needed to look at what should be restricted, listing options such as banning social media use by children, curbing harmful content, and addressing algorithms that prey on young people’s vulnerabilities.
Detailed discussions will begin in the new year, supported by a report on the issue, Baume-Schneider said, adding: “We mustn’t forget social media platforms themselves: they must take responsibility for what children and young people consume.”
Australia’s ban has won praise from many parents and groups advocating for the welfare of children, and drawn criticism from major technology companies and defenders of free speech.
Earlier this month, the parliament of the Swiss canton of Fribourg voted to prohibit children from using mobile phones at school until they are about 15, the latest step taken at a local level in Switzerland to curb their use in schools.
