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In the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, two men are nearly beaten to death by an angry mob, in Brazil, made-up news are used to massively influence voters and German kids are living in fear of a monster - all because of WhatsApp. What sounds like a mediocre science fiction novel has now become a reality. The popular messenger is no longer just a messenger but a news platform that spreads fear, prejudice and hatred to millions, leaving its owners wondering how put the genie back in the bottle.
We generally tend to give friends and family the benefit of the doubt when it comes to news and, because of our relationship, said news can have a significant emotional impact, unlike some anonymous internet articles. Yet, we seldom know the original source behind the story. Depending on where you live, this can cause all kinds of trouble, sometimes with dangerous outcomes. Recently, India became a focal point of interest when, especially in its rural areas, hysteria was stoked through WhatsApp. The story was that men disguised as beggars would kill people and sell their organs. It spread like wildfire and, almost as quickly, two suspects were found and almost lynched by a mob of 500. A few weeks prior, a man thought to be a child kidnapper was beaten to death. So far, dozens of people have been injured in similar cases in 2018, none of them guilty of any crimes.
In Germany, a gruesome chain email made the news and scared hundreds of thousands of kids. It's creator, who called himself "Momo", used an image of a Japanese ghost and claimed he had died three years ago in a car accident. He'd go on to say that, unless the message was forwarded to 15 contacts, he'd haunt or even kill the reader at midnight. What may sound ridiculous to us had a devastating effect on the children. These threatening chain emails are often disseminated through various Japanese, Mexican or Columbian WhatsApp accounts until mass distribution is achieved through their underage readers. Another story had kids do various tasks to keep "Momo" away. One of them led to 14-year old Kendal Gattino committing suicide by strangling himself with his Taekwondo belt. While police and authorities along with parent and teacher unions a re desperately struggling to raise awareness, experience shows it'll take some time for "Momo" to finally fall into oblivion.
Rumors spread like wildfire
Brazil recently not only had to cope with an election but also with a wave of fake news distributed through over 100,000 WhatsApp accounts. The move was in part coordinated by PR agencies and, by means of nasty propaganda, sought to disparage political rivals. Eventually, the election commission was forced to silence a number of spin doctors as their bias towards the later election winner had become all too apparent. Since WhatsApp is the number one news source for many Brazilians, observers consider the affair a case of massive voter manipulation. Fittingly, a recent MIT study found fake news are deliberately charged with emotion and, consequently, rated more interesting by readers than ordinary news pieces. Furthermore, fake stories cater to and substantiate popular beliefs and prejudice resulting in a 70% higher chance of redistribution. Or as one of my friends (admin of a sizable Facebook group) put it: "An ill-conceived child abduction story travels faster than a genuine cry for help."
Naturally, WhatsApp know about the fatal consequences but are rather powerless. Messages are encrypted so content filters are unable to identify and weed out fakes. The company simply doesn't know what is going on communication-wise. That's why WhatsApp vowed to better educate their users and enable them to report fake messages. Also, forwarded messages will be visually distinguishable from normal messages in the future. Another option might be to greatly limit message forwarding, disable group messaging or restrict the number of participants. Just like Facebook, who are facing allegations of having done nothing to prevent genocide in Myanmar (stoked and directed through their portal), WhatsApp is not entirely blameless here.
Keep calm: Not every news piece reflects the truth
Time will tell whether these measures will be enough once panic flares up again. Indian authorities have already called for a more drastic approach, planning to force companies like Facebook to store, and, if needed, hand over all data from Indian users. Naturally, privacy groups are up in arms fearing the end of encryption and freedom of opinion. Sure, surveillance always has potential for abuse, but so does the free distribution of content - it's a dilemma! More progressive voices have been calling for more media literacy classes in schools for years to teach children how to tell real and fake messages apart whether they're coming from strangers or friends. I believe that to be a prudent course of action as technology alone won't solve this dilemma, we need better education and common sense.
What I would like to know: Do you generally trust messages from friends and family more or do you objectively question everything no matter who the source is?
Have you ever considered that the most accurate information from mainstream news media is the weather forecast?
And in Western Countries Made up news to encourage hatred and hide truth is also the norm, In Pakistan hundreds call for the death of a Christian woman, the west ignores, no one cares, that these days is also the norm, Much the same to what you wrote?, it is all hatred, violence, influence. The new present and future norm. You wrote "we need better education and common sense." Those days has been but now are gone, will not return for a very long time. Oh, and If these companies did store information to be used against people,who do you think would be the victims? I bet it would not be the bad ones, only the defendants of truth, that is the norm for them even now.
As my old Granny used to say (as misquoted in "I heard it on the grape-vine") - Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see!
She´s so right.
Greetings to your Granny from Germany
I take everything that is forwarded to me with a pinch of salt.
If it looks suspicious, I google it to find out whether it is real.
If it is not, I alert the sender of the message that it is not true.
This is not just a problem with WhatsApp, nor even with all social media, but with the mainstream media as well.
"More progressive voices have been calling for more media literacy classes in schools for years to teach children how to tell real and fake messages apart whether they're coming from strangers or friends."
The problem here is that there solution is to trust the mainstream sources, which strongly tend to lean to the left, and can't actually be trusted either.
I tend to trust sources that I consider to be reliable, and that does not include friends who "share" articles/videos/etc. that they have uncritically repeated from elsewhere. In fact I have debunked a few of those myself by doing a bit of simple research, including a video purporting to be of Obama making some admission, that turned out to be a doctored video.
I also exposed a mainstream news source faking a poster in order to demonise people opposed to so-called same-sex marriage.
Not be be too cynical, but one word sums it up: Facebook.
I mean Facebook are the owners of Whats App, right? So it's another Zuckerberg Pandora's Box that's been opened. It seems that anything Facebook annexes becomes a hall of rumours. I would not be surprised that in the future there could be a new compulsory school subject: Not Facebook - The Truth.
Facebook can acquire what it wants under different names, but it cannot hide from the fact that Zuckerberg and his board are ultimately responsible for what happens on the platforms that his company owns.
Facebook is what facilitated the Arab Spring in Egypt. Hear it from the man who started it: https://www.ted.com/talks/wael_ghonim_let_s_design_social_media_that_drives_real_change
The answer to your question is no on first glance. If it looks interesting I will look for the source. When articles use Wikipedia as a source I consider it junk. As a journalist there must be several reliable sources posted with an article. It takes time to do the needed research before publishing anything.
The answer lays somewhere between an education of current affairs, turning off the TV, mobile device and Internet for some personal time. It is sad to see a good social network bury good articles due to one person, namely Trump, and his total control, of Twitter. It's a disgrace to see the media replay his junk by the minute.
It's the first time I have heard anything about WhatsApp's problems Sven. Sad isn't it?
Excellent article Sven,
Unfortunately the millions of individual people who have been 'sucked in' to (un) social media would never read an article such as this.
Those millions of people mentioned have willingly allowed all social media to dictate to them and take control of their lives, and it is doubtful that they will listen to reason and leave the 'false, mind-bending' social situation in which they are involved.
Anything which creates fear and terror is terrorism, not just the mad-men who use guns and bombs to harm innocent people.
Thanks, Jon
I never cease to be amazed at the gullibility of people!. I have never read ANY news and taken it to heart , so that I would be motivated to share it or to take up arms,(so to speak).
Its true its not the media its the people! Notice that there are certain populations who are unable to contain themselves and a re very easily roused to commit violent deeds at the slightest provocation. Or its the vulnerable young who get targeted cos they are not able to detect fake news and do not have a suitable sceptical outlook on whats presented to them.
As many of the folks have already pointed out, the isssue isn't the platform, it's US. And alas, the older the folks, the less likely the vast majority of them will be distrustful of their news sources. (although the Trumpites here are all ages, and they obviously don't disbelieve anything their chosen news source says). I admit I have no good plan for getting everyone to give a more critical eye.
A very concerning article and full marks Sven for raising it here.
In the past I have been far too gullible and now I am extremely sceptical. The news media is very manipulated and the exposé of your article shows us what a mess our information systems are in!
Thank you for this article. Very timely.
I try and objectify everything.
I think that once you give an idiot, extremist, terrorist or fool an audience then problems are sure to follow.
Sadly social media by it's very nature facilitates this situation.
The fact that too many of the users of social media are perhaps not very discerning makes this all the more probable.
Look back in history to see what happened when a variety of dictators have gained a large audience of followers who through lack of understanding or censorship are unable to filter the truth from manipulated misinformation.
I fear that the only way this issue can be brought to an end is to shut down ALL forms of social mass media. Whatsapp was fine when it only facilitated one to one communication, as soon as group communication became possible the genie had escaped the bottle.
I think if it had not become a part of the Facebook group we would not be having this discussion at all.
Facebook and Google are just too powerful and integrated into other services.