Anything to stop seeing messages in your family groupchat about how your aunty’s daughter in law’s brother is a doctor and he has the inside scoop on the virus and it turns out that the cure is.. GOD, right?
With companies around the world stepping up their game in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, WhatsApp has finally joined in, pledging $1 million USD to a fact-checking initiative on top of launching a global information centre on the virus.
Aptly titled the WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub, the information centre is backed not only by WhatsApp, but also the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The hub’s purpose is simple, in that it will provide “actionable guidance for health workers, educators, community leaders, non-profits, local governments and local businesses that rely on WhatsApp to communicate”.
‘We know that our users are reaching out on WhatsApp more than ever at this time of crisis, whether it’s to friends and loved ones, doctors to patients, or teachers to students.
‘We wanted to provide a simple resource that can help connect people at this time.’
Will Cathcart, Head of WhatsApp
The hub will also offer tips and resourced that can assist in limiting the spread of rumours related to the virus, with the Facebook subsidiary saying that it’s been working with the WHO and UNICEF to create messaging hotlines so that users can obtain factual information directly.
On top of the WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub, the messaging app has announced that it will invest $1 million USD into Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). The million dollar grant will go a long way in combatting misinformation about the virus by supporting a fact checking alliance that covers more than 100 local organizations in 45 different countries.
‘The timely donation from WhatsApp will help the fact-checks published by the CoronaVirusFacts Alliance to reach wider audiences and, in consequence, help people sort facts from fiction during this avalanche of information that WHO called an “infodemic”.
‘The International Fact-Checking Network also looks forward to discovering ways to understand the spread of health related hoaxes on WhatsApp in different formats and to make tools available for fact-checkers to detect and debunk misinformation on the messaging app.’
Baybars Orsek, Director of IFCN
With the global tally for the virus reaching 200,000 with 8000 deaths, there really isn’t any room for fake news and rumours about the virus to be spreading. Will this finally stop the circulation of forwarded chainmail? Probably not, but it’s definitely a start.
