Continuing with the efforts to make its platform free of hoax news, WhatsApp has now come up with a new ‘Check it before you share it’ campaign. This, the company explains, will make people more aware of the need to check the authenticity of a message before forwarding it to others.
The new ‘Check it before you share it’ campaign is also crucial in that it wrests the responsibility back on the users to be sure of the message they intend to share is indeed a fact. This way, the Facebook owned company believes people will inculcate the habit in them to get their facts right before sharing anything on the platform.
It also isn’t likely to happen right away and could take months or even years for the campaign to start bearing the desired results. As things stand at a moment, those with an unscrupulous mindset create WhatsApp groups with the deliberate intention of spreading falsehood in a highly systematic manner.
For this, WhatsApp said they have made available several means for the users to do their research to ensure the message they share is indeed genuine. That includes the MyGov helpline for getting all the latest health related updates pertaining to their region or elsewhere. Also, of course, there is always the provision for a web search to get all the information you might need.
Also, all of this could not have come at a better time, given the pandemic situation we are going through. Unfortunately, while a section of the population has seemingly put their life on stake in the war against COVID 19, some continue with their nefarious acts of spreading rumours and hatred.
In light of this, such campaigns to make people better educated on the role they can play in preventing the spread of misinformation is significant. This assumes greater significance when WhatsApp has been among the most used apps by people to keep in touch while maintaining social distancing.
