WhatsApp has launched two initiatives in support of the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic: the global launch of the WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub in partnership with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and UNDP, and a $1 million donation to the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).
The WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub has been launched to provide simple, actionable guidance for health workers, educators, community leaders, nonprofits, local governments and local businesses, who rely on WhatsApp to communicate. The site also offers general tips and resources for users around the world to reduce the spread of rumours and connect with accurate health information
In addition, WhatsApp is working with the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to provide messaging hotlines for people around the world to use directly. These hotlines will provide reliable information and will be listed on the WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub.
To date, WhatsApp has worked with a number of national health ministries and NGOs to provide factual information to users via text in countries including Singapore, Israel, South Africa, Brazil and Indonesia. As these efforts continue, the hub will be updated with the latest resources.
The tech giant’s $1 million grant to the IFCN will support fact-checking for the #CoronaVirusFacts Alliance, which spans across over 100 local organisations in at least 45 countries. Over the last year, WhatsApp has worked to bring over a dozen fact-checking organisations directly onto WhatsApp so they can crowdsource and report on rumours that may be circulating on various messaging services including WhatsApp or SMS. The grant will support training to use the advanced features within WhatsApp Business, including the WhatsApp Business API.
Expanding the presence of these IFCN-certified fact-checking organisations will help ensure local communities are aware and responding to potential harmful rumours.
Speaking about the development, – Will Cathcart, Head, WhatsApp, said, “We wanted to provide a simple resource that can help connect people at this time. We are also pleased to be able to partner with the Poynter Institute to help grow the amount of fact-checking organisations on WhatsApp and to support their life-saving work to debunk rumours. We will also continue to work directly with health ministries around the world for them to provide updates right within WhatsApp.”
Adding to it, Baybars Orsek, Director, IFCN, mentioned, “The timely donation from WhatsApp will help the fact-checks published by the CoronaVirusFacts Alliance to reach wider audiences and, in consequence, help people sort facts from fiction during this avalanche of information that WHO called an ‘infodemic’. The International Fact-Checking Network also looks forward to discovering ways to understand the spread of health-related hoaxes on WhatsApp in different formats and to make tools available for fact-checkers to detect and debunk misinformation on the messaging app.”
Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said, “Getting up-to-date information about Covid-19 to local communities around the world is a critical piece of the international community’s efforts to stem the spread of the virus. Partnerships with private sector companies like WhatsApp will help get this vital, real-time information from the World Health Organization and local health officials to billions of users around the globe.”