[imagesource: Pixabay]

Oh, look, another WhatsApp message with a link to an article containing easily debunked misinformation.

Hang on, here’s another forwarded message, this time with a link to a YouTube video where a doctor talks about how any vaccine is actually a plot by Bill Gates to implant tracking microchips.

They’re wearing a stethoscope, so they must be correct. Let me blindly send this video to loads of my contacts, and if anybody calls me out for my bullshit, I’ll just say “oh, sorry, I thought it was interesting”.

As you can tell, I find this tiring. It’s one thing to spread misinformation about why the earth is flat, or the moon landing was fake (both wrong, but neither is dangerous and puts lives at risk, unless you encounter Buzz Aldrin), and quite another to spread misinformation in the age of COVID-19, which could actively endanger the lives of others.

WhatsApp knows there is a problem, which is why it’s rolling out a new feature which allows users to quickly search the contents of viral messages in order to fact-check misinformation.

At present, the “search the web” feature is only available to WhatsApp users in Brazil, Italy, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, UK, and US, but you’d expect it to roll out in other countries soon enough.

More from The Verge:

…a magnifying glass icon will start appearing next to messages that have been forwarded through a chain of five or more people.

Image: WhatsApp

Tapping it searches for the message’s contents online, with the idea being that this should reveal any common conspiracy theories or misinformation the message contains.

Because I guess it’s too much to ask that people leave WhatsApp, and Google some of the key phrases or words, of their own volition, before forwarding things on.

WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption means the company cannot see the contents of messages that are sent, so the feature merely gives users the ability to do the fact-checking themselves.

(Which existed before, but wasn’t spoonfed, which is why this degree of handholding is now necessary.)

The irony of people sat on the couch at home, shouting about how the mass media spreads ‘fake news’ and simultaneously forwarding a story about garlic curing COVID-19, shouldn’t be lost on us.

It’s right up there with social media posts like “you won’t see the mainstream media covering this!”, complete with a link to a major news site covering the story.

If and when the new WhatsApp “search the web” feature is available in South Africa, or wherever you find yourself, it’s worth encouraging people to make use of it.

[source:verge]