![]() They began as cheap, data-lean alternatives to SMS texting or as ways to send private, encrypted messages. Unlike Twitter or Reddit, messaging apps are not designed to be public squares where users can mingle with millions of strangers. But these simple apps deserve attention as the dark future of misinformation and disinformation. Messaging platforms have yet to provoke much discussion among misinformation and disinformation researchers (myself included) in the West, who have been trying to devise best practices for responding to viral rumor and disinformation campaigns. In Asian and Latin American countries like Malaysia or Brazil, that number is closer to 50 percent, and WhatsApp is almost as common a source of news as Facebook. A recent YouGov survey of over 70,000 people in 36 countries found that 23 percent of respondents “find, share, or discuss” news using at least one messaging service. And as the popularity of Facebook and Twitter as news sources shows signs of stagnating or declining around the world, messaging platforms are increasingly becoming a means through which users learn about the wider world. That’s due to one seemingly trivial detail: In all of these cases, the misinformation made its way to readers via the messaging service WhatsApp.Ĭlosed messaging apps like WhatsApp and Viber continue to grow in popularity worldwide. But the details of these rumors - who was behind them and why - are particularly murky and likely to remain that way. When fake news has violent consequences, journalists have a duty to set the record straight as quickly as possible. And fabricated poll reports sowed doubts about the electoral standing of candidates ahead this month’s elections in Kenya, where the result is disputed and dozens have been killed in protests. A rumor about a salt shortage last fall sparked panicked rushes to markets in several Indian states that turned fatal. ![]() In some places, the future of misinformation is already here.Ī hoax about child-napping con artists led to the beating of two people this spring in Brazil.
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