How WhatsApp was Extensively Abused During India Elections

New Delhi: Despite WhatsApp efforts to reduce the spread of fake news by limiting the number of forwards to five, the platform was extensively abused to spread unfounded rumors and create disinformation campaigns during recent elections in India and Brazil, a study has revealed.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp particularly failed in blocking the propagation of misinformation campaigns through public groups, said the study conducted by researchers from the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US. In the study, the researchers wanted to find out how effective WhatsApp’s efforts were in countering the spread of misinformation circulating on the platform.

They analyzed the data around the election day, 60 days before and 15 after, in three countries — India, Brazil, and Indonesia. “Our results suggest that the current efforts deployed by WhatsApp can offer significant delays on the information spread, but they are ineffective in blocking the propagation of misinformation campaigns through public groups when the content has a high viral nature,” the authors wrote in a paper published on pre-print repository arXiv.org. (IANS)

Also Read: Facebook to soon shut down group stories feature

Also Watch: Dr Bhupen Hazarika Statue installed in Duliajan e | The Sentinel News | Assam News