Nonetheless, we argue that WhatsApp does operate as a media platform where communication happens and where information is constructed, shared, and discussed. In particular, Internet researcher Tarleton Gillespie, in his recent book-sized review of content-moderation in the platform era, excludes WhatsApp from consideration because its interaction is “overwhelmingly between known contacts, they sidestep many of the problems that plague platforms that offer public visibility and contact with strangers.” 8 Perhaps also of importance to Gillespie’s exclusion of WhatsApp is the app’s end-to-end encryption, which makes it impossible for it to be effectively moderated (one of the 4 core aspects of platforms according to him). 7 But how can we critically analyze WhatsApp’s role as a media platform if its very definition as a ‘platform’ is contested? Some media scholars argue that, due to its nature as a decentralized, encrypted, and person-to-person/group-to-group messaging app, WhatsApp cannot be considered a platform like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Regardless of the company’s intended goals, the role of WhatsApp in the spread of false information has inspired organizations to demand changes in the app’s sharing functionalities, implementation of fact-checking, and other macro- and micro-level changes. 4 Most poignantly, Facebook has admitted “it did not do enough to prevent the incitement of violence and hate speech in Myanmar” 5, where tens of thousands of people from the Rohingya minority group have been “killed, raped and assaulted, villages were razed to the ground and more than 700,000 Rohingya fled over the border to Bangladesh.” 6 Not unlike Facebook, WhatsApp has received intense criticism in the past few years for the way it has been used to spread false information, hoaxes, hate speech, and other so-called “fake news.” Just to name a few: in 2017, it was linked to the spreading of fake news in highly-connected Kenya 2 in 2018, it has been associated with mob killings in India due to hoaxes regarding ‘child lifters’ 3, and to rumors associating yellow fever vaccines with fatal reactions and chemicals in Brazil.
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More recently, however, the discussion around WhatsApp and elections has captivated the attention of media conglomerates, governments, organizations, and researchers from around the globe.įacebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014, becoming one of the company’s largest investments to date.
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Although celebrated by some privacy advocates, the implementation of encryption was criticized by government agencies as a barrier to fighting crime. Since 2016, messages have end-to-end encryption, sparking controversies from different sectors spanning from governments to digital rights agencies and from users to law enforcement authorities. As an easy-to-use app, forwarding messages to multiple groups can be done with the press of a few buttons. It enables users to message these contacts and also to create groups with them, which in Brazil has become a widespread cultural practice. The app considers every phone number as a user and automatically adds your phone’s contact list as your WhatsApp contacts. 1 Its simplicity is, indeed, one of its core selling points, especially in countries in the Global South where Internet services are becoming increasingly present in people’s everyday lives and are shaping the simplest forms of interaction. Its meteoric growth in the decade since the January 2009 release has earned it one of the largest user bases in the world, with an impressive total of 1.5 billion monthly users. WhatsApp is a self-defined “fast, simple, secure messaging and calling” app.
![grupos de whatsapp 2018 grupos de whatsapp 2018](https://imagenes.20minutos.es/files/og_thumbnail/uploads/imagenes/2018/06/29/531795.jpg)
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*The affectionate way many Brazilians refer to WhatsApp. A blog post by Visiting Graduate Student Gabriel Pereira & Research Assistant Iago Bojczuk