The world isn’t just dealing with a pandemic, since the outbreak of one of humanity’s deadliest viruses there’s been a rise of infodemics too. In times like this, people are in search of resources, news and tips to keep them updated and assure some degree of safety but it also means that they are susceptible to fake news.
The impact of misinformation in our communities during a crisis situation can be devastating. It can cause serious harm to the community, as well as the efforts of stakeholders and humanitarian agencies. Fake news also disrupts public peace, influence general opinions, and create conflicts between people. Any persons or media platforms that circulates false information is in bad faith and an advocate of confusion. An example is the ongoing fuss over 5G technology being responsible for COVID-19 globally. That is false.
In a bid to curtail the damage, WhatsApp has introduced a new limit on its messaging forwarding feature. You will no longer be able to forward messages to multiple contacts, just one chat at a time. The limit kicks in once the message has been forwarded more than five times in total.
It is important to note that while WhatsApp can’t read the content of your chats, however it can count the number of times a particular message is forwarded through the metadata. The company is also testing reverse image search and text search to limit fake news on its platform whilst working with the World Health Organization (WHO) and 20 governments all over the world to provide accurate information about COVID-19 to people.
