Social media platforms are struggling to fight against the menace of fake news, which leads to polarisation, mob violence, and even lynchings in India. WhatsApp’s popularity in India is quite evident through its 400 million users. And because of its huge popularity, it has become an effective platform for rumors and fake messages to quickly spread. This prompted WhatsApp to limit the forwarding of messages to just five chats and introduce restrictions in Groups where only admins can post a message.
For users themselves, there are some tips that they must keep in mind while spotting misinformation or fake news on WhatsApp.
How To Check Fake News On WhatsApp?
Be wary of the frequently forwarded messages: WhatsApp labels “Forwarded” messages to help users determine if it was written by the sender of the message or if it originated somewhere else. When a message is forwarded more than five times, the platform labels it as a “Frequently Forwarded” message with a double arrow icon. So if you are not sure about who wrote the original message, you can double-check the facts before believing it or forwarding it to another user or group.
Check photos and media carefully: Do not trust photos, audio recordings, and videos sent over the platform as these may be edited to mislead you. WhatsApp asks its users to rely on trusted news sources to see if the story is being reported elsewhere because when a story is reported in multiple places, it is more likely to be true. It can be done by cross-checking the story on the website of a reputed media house to confirm if the news is authentic. WhatsApp also advises users to ask fact-checkers or people they trust for more information before hitting forward on the message.
Look out for hoax messages: There are a number of spam websites that publish hoax messages to gain traction. Users should be wary of such sites since it forwards links on WhatsApp with unrealistic claims or promise of free stuff. Signs like spelling mistakes, a URL that does not have https in the beginning, etc, can help to identify the hoax.
Check your biases before sharing the information: WhatsApp asks its users to watch out for information that confirms their pre-existing beliefs since you will trust and share such kind of information without hesitation. WhatsApp asks to review the facts before sharing information. Stories that seem hard to believe are often false.
Fake news often goes viral: WhatsApp Groups are the breeding ground for fake news. So WhatsApp has made it clear that if a group or contact is constantly sharing fake news, report them. The messaging platform also urges its users to ask the sender of a message to verify the information before they share it.
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