Again, WhatsApp launches new approach on how to identify fake News

Joseph Inokotong, Abuja

WhatsApp said it has evolved a new method for handling half-truths.

The top social media network, WhatsApp, according to crowdsourcing has a new strategy for tackling misinformation, especially during India’s election.

It said that WhatsApp is offering its 200 million users in India a new tip line where they can send in messages, pictures or videos they want fact-checked.

According to the report, a “verification center” will respond to the user, indicating whether the information is true, false, misleading or disputed.

The Facebook-owned messaging app has developed the tip line, known as Checkpoint, in partnership with an Indian start-up. It will be available in English and four Indian languages — Hindi, Telugu, Bengali and Malayalam.

WhatsApp is hoping to use the new service to broaden its fight against fake news during an election that’s viewed as a key test of whether social media platforms can prevent the spread of rumours and hoaxes.

The company said “The challenge of viral misinformation requires more collaborative efforts and cannot be solved by any one organisation alone”.

WhatsApp, Facebook (FB) and other social networks like Twitter (TWTR) have numerous steps to try and prevent their platforms from being used to spread misinformation during India’s election, the world’s biggest exercise in democracy.

Some of the steps are: having limited message forwarding, banned fake accounts, labelled political advertising and partnered with fact-checking websites.

However, analysts say with 900 million people eligible to vote and more than 560 million internet users, the tech companies may be fighting a losing battle.

They insist that their job is made even harder by politicians who themselves spread false news, and WhatsApp did warn political parties earlier this year that it will block their accounts if they engage in suspicious activity.

Already, Facebook did exactly that on Monday. It took down hundreds of pages, groups and accounts linked to India’s ruling party and its main opposition for what it described as “coordinated inauthentic behaviour.”

WhatsApp itself was shoved into the centre of the India’s fake news debate last year, when viral hoaxes spread on its platform were blamed for more than a dozen lynching.

It is expected that the misinformation menace will only get worse in the lead up to the vote, which begins on April 11 and runs for about five weeks.

Interestingly, WhatsApp said the tip line initiative would “help contribute to the safety of the elections … and deter people from sharing rumours that have no basis in fact”.

The company also added that the initiative would create a database of rumours to study misinformation during elections.