WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in Africa. The ease of connecting with friends and families across continents is an undeniable benefit of WhatsApp. For Africans in the diaspora, WhatsApp is a cheap alternative to other call services. Unlike other call services that charge per minute or per second for calls, the requirements for WhatsApp are stable internet connection and a smartphone. Audio and video calls can be made for ‘free’. In effect, WhatsApp is a catchall app that allows for video calls, audio calls, sending of videos and pictures. WhatsApp’s popularity has allowed for communication, business transactions and trade but it has also fueled the spread of disinformation and misinformation.   

On social media and among my friends and family, people often joke and complain about WhatsApp broadcast messages and WhatsApp groups. Aunties, mothers, fathers, uncles, friends, church members often send messages that are meant to inform about a potential danger or cure to a disease. At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, someone I follow on social media joked that her husband had gone viral on WhatsApp after a voice note he shared with his family was forwarded to others. About two days later, my mother sent me the same voice note. However, the story surrounding the voice note had changed. The person who sent this voice note to my mother claimed the person speaking was a WHO representative. While the voice note did not contain misleading information, it got me thinking more about the virality of information on social media, especially WhatsApp.

When content is shared from one person to the other, it goes through a process of reframing and recontextualisation. So a voice note shared by a family member who is a healthcare professional goes from a message being shared with family to being framed as advice from the WHO.

Misinformation and disinformation is not unique to WhatsApp. Other social media platforms face this problem. However, misinformation and disinformation on WhatsApp poses greater harm because of the relational context. Contacts on WhatsApp are made based on phone numbers and phone numbers are private information given out on a basis of trust. Groups joined on WhatsApp are based on school affiliation, religious beliefs, family ties and friendships. This makes it harder for people to leave groups and more likely that people accept the messages they are sent at face value and as truth. Hence, videos peddling cures for Covid-19 sent in a WhatsApp group are not only hailed as truth by members, but forwarded to other people and groups. When others question the efficacy and veracity of the claims, the user can argue that their aunt, uncle, pastor, imam, doctor, father or mother sent it and thus it is true. 

Combating disinformation and misinformation on social media is difficult. However, it is harder on WhatsApp. For one, it is a closed social media platform and moderating content would involve reading private exchanges between individuals. While WhatsApp has introduced various changes including limiting the forwarding of messages, it is not enough. Forwarded messages can still be spread in groups containing more than 100 people who can then forward it to more people. The onus of combating this problem is not just on WhatsApp but on governments and civil society. More than ever, digital literacy is needed.

While African countries have leapfrogged development and have made significant gains in technology, digital literacy has not caught up with these gains. For some people, the internet is fact and thus, WhatsApp is fact.

So when a fake video allegedly showing Fulani herdsmen or Boko Haram inflicting harm on people or governments harming people of a particular ethnic group or sexual orientation is shared, real world harm occurs. Disinformation and misinformation on WhatsApp can topple democracies, influence elections and influence culture. In this age of increased information warfare, disinformation and state-sponsored information operations can cause civil unrest. WhatsApp needs to focus on its biggest markets and promote and actively support digital literacy. State-sponsored information and content origination labels need to be maintained as content is forwarded. When a particular video or content becomes viral, they should be labeled as fake or containing misleading information. 

Tackling disinformation and misinformation takes work. It takes multiple reiterations to solve. Nevertheless, when disinformation and misinformation go viral, context is lost, real world harms can occur and thus, must be mitigated.