WhatsApp has reached local newspapers for its fight against fake news spreading on its platform and has published a full-page ad on a Pakistani paper to spread awareness in the country.
The ad, titled “Together We Can Fight False Information”, gives its readers some tips to identify fake news that people often receive on WhatsApp. For this very purpose, the company recently added a new feature that labels forwarded messages, so people can know if a message has been written by the senders themselves or not.
Here’s what the advert looks like,
Facebook, WhatsApp’s parent company, has already been trying to rid its platform of similar posts and has been more active than before due to the upcoming elections. These are some handy tips, and we too advise our readers to stay vigilant about the pictures and messages they receive or share.
Much Bigger Impact
News, be it fake or true, travels quickest when it gets shared on social media. So, unless you are sure it’s from a credible source, it’s best to not forward it. This only spreads it further, as the people who receive it from you might decide to share it with their friends as well.
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Facebook has also been under fire for letting some Russian agencies spread faux advertisement for political purposes. With social networks being a part of almost every person’s life, such posts have a much bigger impact on the society than you would imagine.
More than often, it’s up to us to protect our data and interactions online. The internet is a big place, with all sorts of scams and misinformation at every corner. To find credible news and articles, we should get used to finding our way around web pages and search engines, and not get caught up on untrue articles.
As they say, not everything you see on the internet is true – unless of course, it’s posted by multiple, credible news reporters.
Here are a few more tips:
1. Reverse Image: Upload the image into Google Image, Google will show from where the image is taken along with all the URLs of the websites on the internet.
2. Grammar Mistakes: Many spam and fake messages have grammar mistakes.
3. Official Social Media: If the message is from the ISPR, for example, go to its official Facebook or Twitter account, and check the authenticity.
4. Search in Google: You will find that many fake messages were sent a few years ago, they are sent again in the future.
5. Search in Facebook Search: You will find that it is being shared by many, and check the comments. Many wise people will comment either it is real or fake.
agar yeh qoum itni hi parahi likhi hoti tu aj hum yahhan hotay …………kabhi is mulk maay GANJA aa gaya kbahi ZARDARI aa gaya ha yeh Qoum JAHIL ha
Agr kisi cheez ka apko pata hai is ka ye matlab nhi bhai ky sab ko uska pata ho, agr aap kehty ye nhi btana chaye kisi ko bhi, then matlab education deni hi band kr deni chaye
Agr ek insaan ka bhi faida ho jata hai to mera maqsad pora ho gya.
Sab ko tabdeel krna zarori nhi, bas ek insaaan ko aap kar dain kafi hai :)
No offence, peace <3
good effort
Took you all day to take a picture and post it here, guess you get newspaper at night, not morning.
Whatsapp should disseminate this information to less fortunate people i.e uneducated or mildly educated, poor masses because they are the most gullible demographic and carriers of viral false news. Their farcical ad in English daily Dawn is nothing but an eyewash.
To contain viral fake news, they should disable frequent forwarding attempts on public initiated messages. At least slow down group messages for recipients more than a 100 especially when a video is being shared. Only govt or verified messages should go through unchecked.
Their current schemes are laughable at best. Half hearted attempts only, to keep whatsapp available as a propaganda tool for those who would need it.
Very well said.. The less educated people are the actual victims of fake news.