Social media has made it easy for people to stay in touch with loved ones and friends. It has also made it easier to share information, follow the news, and stay informed. However, social media has also made it easier to spread false information.
Rumors quickly spread through France in recent days alleging that members of the Roma ethnic minority were abducting children. This lead to waves of attacks against people who were believed to be responsible for abducting children. However, it turns out that no children were kidnapped, let alone by Roma individuals.
French police have called for calm and say that the rumor of a white van driving around Paris suburbs, kidnapping young women, was false. As a result of the false rumors, two people were attacked and many more were falsely accused. Police have urged the public to not spread the information and that the rumors were completely unfounded.
Most of the attacks appear to have been directed against the Roma. Twenty people have since been arrested. The Roma have long been accused of kidnapping children and have sometimes been viewed as a sort of boogieman.
The Roma are commonly referred to as gypsies. They originated in the Punjab region of northern India and migrated to Europe centuries ago. The Roma are now widely discriminated against and in practice often treated as a separate, lower caste. Nazis targeted Roma for systematic genocide in World War II.
Fake news spread through social media has led to attacks elsewhere as well. In India, countless innocent people have been attacked after fake news alleging rapes, kidnapping, and the like spread through social media.
