WhatsApp and its fight against the “fake news”

WhatsApp will limit the re-sending of messages in the application. The messaging application made this decision after the spread of false news in different countries of the world

Lately, technology has given a boost to several causes and news that as a result of its overcrowding can become viral. This can be seen as an advance towards communication, and how it will be spread in the coming times, the problem lies in the manipulation of information where false news is created causing a viral effect by misinforming users.

Lee en esapñol:  WhatsApp y su lucha contra las "fake news"

The most significant concern is generated in political issues, where the intrusive campaigns of the candidates move the masses of people who are dedicated to creating false web portals providing misinformation about political opponents. On the other hand, there is prevention in social issues as has happened in India, explains Clarin portal: "In India, for example, the multiplication of chains with false information in small villages has triggered the lynchings and killings of a dozen people in recent months. " Other news only seek the mockery and dismissal of readers making viral news of famous singers or footballers, going through unimaginable promotions or conspiracies of the end of the world.

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This measure limits the re-sending of messages under two changes:

1. The recipient of the word is informed that the content of the message is forwarded, that is to say, that the user is notified that it is a huge message and not a personal one.
2. Forwarding messages that used to be 20 will now go down to 5, preventing people dedicated to spreading false information from reaching a broad spectrum of contacts.

Apart from these two changes, WhatsApp has continuously had to redo and revise the security and privacy policies of the application, since it has been involved in several complaints ranging from a false propagation medium to the violation of privacy, the latter Based on the allegation that indicates that millions of user data were in the hands of Cambridge Analytica, the consultant who collaborated with the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.

This issue worries and more when the transition of direct mail from the messaging application, where it has been estimated that brands can have a verified account (as happens in different social networks) and through which they can send messages directly to customers who previously accept the sending of information by the application. There are doubts about the use of data, the privacy of the client and the direct protection of information not only from the form but also from the cell phone, as well as the generation of false accounts that would seek to cheat consumers.

It is also important to remind users always to be attentive with any news that arrives through WhatsApp contacts or groups, keep in mind to corroborate the story with reliable sources of information and have a technological education about the mass of data.

LatinAmerican Post | Gustavo Cantor Romero

Translated from "WhatsApp y su lucha contra las "fake news."