With so many Softonic readers being avid WhatsApp users, we always try to keep you up to date on what is going on with the Facebook-owned app. Unfortunately, this has meant reporting extensively on the spread of fake news across the network and WhatsApp’s attempts to fight it.
We’ve covered everything from limits to message forwarding to a tip line WhatsApp set up to learn more about how false information spreads. Today, we have some very encouraging news to report on the response to the tip line mentioned above.
WhatsApp tip line
The WhatsApp Checkpoint tip line was set up in the run-up to the recent Indian elections. More than 600 million people voted in the biggest democratic exercise on the planet – a prime target for people trying to push false political narratives. This has been done before in countries like Brazil.
Checkpoint allows WhatsApp users to request verification on news stories they receive via WhatsApp. WhatsApp has now revealed that in just two months about 75,000 people have sent verification requests to Checkpoint. However, it isn’t able to actually provide verification to all users. Instead, Checkpoint is a research project, designed to help the ubiquitous messaging app learn more about how people interact with fake news.
Working with an Indian media start-up company called PROTO, Checkpoint will now analyze the data. PROTO also plans to submit all the findings to the International Center for Journalists in a bid to help other organizations learn from how the project was designed and run.
Not everybody who asked for verification received it, but WhatsApp is now sitting on a huge cache of useful data. This data could help it fight fake news and all its awful consequences.
In an article with Economic Times, a WhatsApp spokesperson said, “ The response on the tip line has been tremendous and has received over 75,000 claims since the launch, in five languages — Hindi, Telugu, Bengali, Malayalam, and English.”
It is the large scale of the data that could make a difference, with one of the co-founders of PROTO saying, “As more data flows in, we continue to identify the issues, languages, regions that are most susceptible to or affected by this problem.”
What comes next?
WhatsApp’s fake news problem is far from over. If anything, the Checkpoint numbers show just how big the problem actually is. The messaging app is moving in the right direction. However, it has already built up a huge database of information relating to the types of false stories shared. This should help it prevent the spread in the future.
The other good news to take from this is the public response. A lot of people have felt suspicious enough to pass stories they’ve received on to a verification service, which is a very good sign. If WhatsApp can give people the tools to fight fake news themselves, the people will use them.
