ISLAMABAD – WhatsApp may launch Facebook like most exciting feature forusers across the World
Adding a simple “button” to express doubt in reference to claims made onWhatsApp posts, or enabling users to easily flag statements as problematic,unreliable, or groundless may help the platform cut the spread ofmisinformation, suggest the results of an India-focused study.
“Similar to the ‘like’ functions that exist on other platforms, it would betechnically very easy for WhatsApp to add ‘red flag’ or ‘?’ emoji buttonsthat users can easily click on next to contentious posts,” said the studyby researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Leiden University, IEUniversity, IANS has reported.
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“Such a strategy would be entirely compatible with the encrypted nature ofthe platform, as ‘red flags’ need not be reported or investigated by theplatform, but merely used to communicate to other users that a variety ofopinions exist among participants to the thread,” it added.
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Countering the spread of misinformation among Indian users of theFacebook-owned platform is a huge challenge as WhatsApp cannot see thecontent of the messages due to the end-to-end encryption feature whichallows only the sender and receiver of the messages to view the content.
WhatsApp’s efforts to reduce the spread of fake news has included limitingof the number of forwards to five, besides other measures such as runningawareness campaigns on dangers of fake news on various platforms.
