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WhatsApp Must Act to Protect Elections | foundation.mozilla.org (foundation.mozilla.org)

submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

14 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The link above is for the petition

Here is the letter:

Our Letter To WhatsApp:

WhatsApp needs to implement these product changes during polling days and in the month before and the month after elections:

Add friction to forwarding messages: Reduce the ease with which messages can be forwarded on the platform by adding one additional step which nudges users to pause and reflect before they forward content.

Add disinformation warning labels to viral content: Automatically add clear “Highly forwarded: please verify” warning labels to viral messages, in addition to the “forwarded many times” label currently in use.

Reduce WhatsApp’s broadcast capabilities: Disable the Communities feature and also limit the size of broadcast lists to 50 people and cap their usage to twice a day.

Without decisive action from WhatsApp, disinformation attacks will likely scale up in 2024, aimed at manipulating and undermining elections affecting half of the world’s population. WhatsApp must act to change its product to protect election integrity.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago (1 children)

A downside to a statement like this would be the 'crying wolf' effect. If that message pops up on information they know to be true, where it's being shared because it is important or relevant, then people are less likely to care.

A neutral message would help prevent that

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

Tough one to get right, isn't it? I take your point, but I fear the power of confirmation bias might be too great.