[News Story] WhatsApp Viral Messages ‘Drop 70%’ According to the Company

Posted On April 28, 2020

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and after users and governments complained about the amount of misinformation circulating on WhatsApp, the platform announced new measures to curb the virality of messages. Now, WhatsApp says that it has sseen a reduction of 70% in viral messages. There’s been several stories on the topic in the media these days. Here’s a few:

Techchrunch: WhatsApp’s new limit cuts virality of ‘highly forwarded’ messages by 70%
BBC: Coronavirus: Viral WhatsApp messages ‘drop 70%’
Forbes: WhatsApp Viral Message Forwarding Drops 70% After New Limits To Stop Coronavirus Misinformation

Our research on the spread of misinformation in Africa has shown again and again that WhatsApp is ripe with inaccurate stories, and that people share them widely. You can read more about our study on motivations for sharing disinformation in several Sub-Saharan African countries here.

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Academic Research and Resources on Disinformation, Misinformation and Fake News in Africa. Tweets by @DMadrid_M @hwasser

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Dani Madrid-Morales @dmadrid_m ·

1 Jun

Thrilled to be able to share this report on the teaching of media literacy in 🇿🇦

We talked to educators in five provinces to understand what’s being taught, what’s not being taught & why that’s the case.

Part of the @DisinfoAfrica research that @hwasser & I are working on. https://twitter.com/hwasser/status/1531952064783327233

Herman Wasserman @hwasser

What is needed to teach misinformation literacy at South African schools and universities? Our (@DMadrid_M, @fadiyahrabin and my) report for @AfricaCheck identifies knowledge and skills gaps to help develop materials for use in classrooms. Download here: https://bit.ly/3wZT3oe

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DisinfoAfrica @disinfoafrica ·

1 Jun

This new report co-authored by @hwasser and @DMadrid_M aims to identify knowledge and skills gaps related to teaching about misinformation through a needs assessment of educators in South Africa.

Available for download now: http://bit.ly/3wZT3oe

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DisinfoAfrica @disinfoafrica ·

16 Apr

Disinformation in the Global South: a new book edited by Herman Wasserman and Dani Madrid-Morales.

This book explores the impacts of disinformation in Africa, Asia, the Arab world and Latin America.

@hwasser @DMadrid_M

http://disinfoafrica.org/2022/04/15/disinformation-in-the-global-south-a-new-book-edited-by-herman-wasserman-and-dani-madrid-morales/

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DisinfoAfrica @disinfoafrica ·

4 Apr

Meeting The Challenges of Information Disorder in the Global South: a new collaborative study run by Herman Wasserman and supported by the IDRC. This innovative study maps global efforts in the fight against information disorder.
@hwasser @IDRC_CRDI
http://disinfoafrica.org/2022/04/04/meeting-the-challenges-of-information-disorder-in-the-global-south/

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🇺🇦 Dame Barely Repressed Fury #EnoughIsEnough @barelyrepresse1 ·

12 Jan

Just received from a South African friend of mine, who lives in the UK, but is back there visiting family at the moment:

"I see England omicron numbers are bad. We should implement the protocols they have here. No one complains, they all crack on. 1/3

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