Of course, as a social network, Facebook has a more open setting than encrypted messaging apps do. The social media giant has created programs to increase fact-checking partnerships on the platform, removed suspected accounts and cut back on the spread of false information, including the financial incentives to produce it. Unlike responsible journalism and fact checking efforts, false and out-of-context information don’t need to see the light of day to flourish in WhatsApp.įacebook, meanwhile, has made significant progress in fighting misinformation on its own platform. As a result, as WhatsApp has emerged as a primary source of news for many people - one in four internet users in Brazil said they used WhatsApp as their main news source during the country's 2018 general election, for example - it has also become a black box of unverified content. Journalists and news outlets have remained largely shut out from the platform’s influence in this respect. WhatsApp’s security and encryption, though, have come at the expense of media accessibility, and misinformation has consequently been able to roam freely through WhatsApp’s encrypted channels. Over time, WhatsApp evolved into more than just a messaging system - it became, in its own way, a social ecosystem, in which users formed groups, engaged in heated debates and exchanged links on a daily basis.Īlong with these positive developments, however, arrived a tsunami of mis- and disinformation. In Brazil, one of WhatsApp’s biggest markets, the trend was similar, as the app has become the country's predominant messaging platform. The social network made the app free for everyone, and what was an already popular messaging tool became even more popular - active monthly users surged from 200 million in April 2013 to 1.5 billion in December 2017. Things have changed since Facebook acquired WhatsApp for US$19 billion in 2014. Read his latest report: WhatsApp as a Tool for News: Lessons from Brazil's 2018 Elections. Sérgio Spagnuolo is an ICFJ TruthBuzz Fellow in Brazil.
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