WhatsApp, fake news and how to protect our citizens


Quick briefing:

The recent mob killings, lynching, and targeting of over 20 innocent people as a result of rumors, largely spread on platforms including WhatsApp, cause an imminent threat to our citizens (and visitors) personal security. The horrific incidences mentioned are forms of vigilanteism with good intention, yet are driven by terribly false information and a lack of adequate structure. As such, we need to design a careful approach that both mitigates the existence & perceived truth of dangerous rumors, and also lessens mob-violence and vigilantism as the go-to response to such claims.

Unpacking An Unseen Threat:

WhatsApp

It is well documented that one of the main causes of the rising number of violent mob outbreaks is the ease with which information (both fake and real) is shared over WhatsApp and Facebook. This type of information dissemination has not yet entered our threat model, and needs to be understood in order to solve it. Over 200 Million Indian residents are WhatsApp users, and a large majority of those users participate in group chats: chat threads with multiple users typically representing a community, friend group or support structure.

A common way to share information between group chats is to ‘forward’ texts from group to group. This functionality makes it extremely easy for someone to send a long message to multiple groups (and hundreds of people) without having to retype or copy and paste the message. Forwarded messages originally did not explicitly let recipients know that the message had been forwarded by the sender, insinuating that the sender produced the content thus suggesting that the information shared was trustworthy and accurate. Facebook has attempted to mitigate this implicit acceptance of accuracy by adding a "Forwarded" notation at the top of forwarded messages (see below).




Education & WhatsApp

The issue here is not simply that the technology allows for quick sharing of information. Sharing becomes an issue when it is coupled with societal problems that cause "fake news" messages to believed and acted upon. Of the 200 Million WhatsApp users in India, tens of millions of such users lack formal education, do not have access to verified news sources, and view WhatsApp as the front page of the internet (and the front page of the news). These types of users rely on WhatsApp to live their lives, and believe the information that their communities share on the platform. When a close friend forwards a note, like the example above about kidnappings, they tend to believe it full heartedly and likely act if prompted to help.

Personal Security & Reporting

Compounding the issue of disseminated & believed fake news, is the lack of reliable organized security & response structures in the areas that these violent reactions are taking place. In many of these areas, the ratio of police to citizens is intolerably low, rendering any effort to report and receive assistance in a reliable manner very unlikely. For example, the average US region has a ratio of 3.4 police or security personelle per every 1,000 citizens. In most areas of India, that ratio drops almost 300% to 1.2 police per 1,000 citizens.

Citizen Cop is an example of a product that was launched in order to help citizen report issues directly to local law enforcement. These types of technologies should be thoroughly explored and expanded when possible. However, if local law enforcement does not have the capacity to reply to these reports in a meaningful way, citizens will no longer trust that the apps work, and resort to solving the problem themselves. Citizen Cop currently operates in four districts within India: Bhopal, Indore, Jhansi, Raipur, Noida, Bengaluru and Navi Mumbai.

Our Goal:

Our goal here is to limit the ability of potentially deadly rumors to be spread via mass media, enable people of India to recognize falsehoods in such rumors, and provide healthy response outlets to those concerned about such rumors.

What has been done:

There has been little done to understand fully how to combat Fake News, especially in places like rural & undereducated India. Thus far, countries like Malaysia have taken measures like placing public ads (see below), threatened to ban WhatsApp, and requested Facebook (unsuccessfully) to make changes to their products.
Facebook has visibly done little of tangible value to limit the spread of such fake news via WhatsApp. Their efforts include the appending of a "forwarded" notification on such messages (see earlier), and the sharing of full-page newspaper ads (below) suggesting ways in which users can identify fake news.

What we could do:

Based on my research and understanding of the problem, I’d suggest a three pronged plan that incorporates both technical innovations and policy interventions.

1) Users are power: India represents almost 20% of WhatsApp users, translating into billions of potential revenue for the company as it begins to monetize the platform. I’d suggest aligning with other countries Office of Information Technology, like Malaysia, Indonesia & Saudi Arabia, and begin to build pressure on Facebook in order to force them to take our requests for action seriously. These countries represent areas that are effected by the same fake news issues as India, and as a coalition, represent a large majority of the WhatsApp users. As this pressure mounts against Facebook, and brings them to the table, I’d pursue the following strategies:
  • , Pressure Facebook to actively test new features. Examples below:
    1. Limiting the number of people you can forward a single message to.
    2. Create alerts to local authorities when there is a distinct increase in forwarded messages in a specific area.
    3. Integrate products like "Citizen Cop" into the WhatsApp interface, to enable people to report potentially fake news.
  • Create a policy around transparency to national governments in new rollouts for products who may impact the spread of information.
  • Request Facebook to invest or provide resources to local law enforcement to help combat the results of fake news.
2) Build out nationally owned reporting mechanisms: Products like Citizen Cop give people a way to understand the value of their local and national security officers. If we were to implement and roll out a reporting forum for people concerned about specific fake news rumors (real or fake), they may be less likely to act themselves. Our citizens are clearly very passionate about fighting kidnapping and related crimes, this will give them the ability to do so safety.

3) Education: As mentioned, many of the violent acts discussed took place in undereducated populations. Identifying these at-risk areas, and providing hands on education about the limits of WhatsApp, the dangers of fake news, and the ways in which such rumors can be handled beyond violence can have long term positive impacts on the actions of our people.

I’d appreciate any feedback or alternative considerations for policy and technical measures to protect our communities against the detriments of fake-news sharing.