WhatsApp is being used to spread dangerous disinformation during the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Instant messaging application WhatsApp is cracking down on COVID-19 misinformation on the app as a result of videos, photos and texts being forwarded by users about the cures for of the coronavirus.

The parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook announced the move saying they’ve limited the ability to forward a message which has already been forwarded on the application to only one user.

Gurgling warm water, eating fennel flower seeds or steaming your nose will not protect you from COVID-19, no matter what the scholars of WhatsApp University tell you.

After widespread WhatsApp disinformation was shared in India by Hindu extremists, leading to a pair of deadly attacks against Muslims in November 2018, Facebook eliminated mass-forwarding and quick-forward messages of media in South Asia.

At that time of the killings, WhatsApp users could forward messages to up to 250 people, which resulted in quick-fire misinformation spreading, and rumours which couldn’t be controlled.

For the past three weeks, South Asian parents like mine have told me of suspicious messages they’ve received regarding the ongoing pandemic.

For most Canadians, WhatsApp is a rather innocuous instant messaging application, which provides the user with more security than regular text messaging. But it has also become the home to some of the most damaging disinformation and rumours regarding COVID-19.

“Right when this crisis hit, I immediately thought, oh my god, this [app] is going to be rife with misinformation especially for South Asians,” said Sunny Hundal, a British journalist and founder of Barfi Culture.

First the conspiracy theories popped up regarding how China had created the virus in a lab, then it jumped to how governments were trying to control people, and now we’re at the stage where videos of cures are being shared by thousands of users.

View photos A WhatsApp message tells users to drink tea to ward off COVID-19. More

Facebook, which has been besieged by governments around the world for not doing enough to combat disinformation around major events like elections.

It's not the first time WhatsApp disinformation entered Canadian life. During the 2019 federal election, it was used to target South Asians living in Canada, according to Hundal.

“I’ve seen it happen with elections in India and elections in Canada and the U.K. by the Indian government,” he said.

Almost two million people in Canada have cultural ties to Pakistan and India where there are 200 million WhatsApp users, the largest of any region.

As a result of its popularity, it’s become the best way for South Asians in the diaspora to connect with those in their homelands. With the quick learned knowledge of how to beat the virus, they’ve since been facetiously dubbed as scholars and graduates of WhatsApp University.

My mom and all her friends graduating from WhatsApp University with a Ph.D. in coronavirus science pic.twitter.com/FXiwlrhReg — Saurabh Chowdhry (@SaurabhCh7) March 23, 2020

In Canada the messages are spreading like wildfire unbeknownst to most of the population, whereas South Asians are receiving debunked methods of how to beat COVID-19.

Jaskaran Singh Sandhu, a senior consultant with Crestview Strategy, says the major problem is that everyone who is messaging on the app already has a modicum of trust with the user.

“With WhatsApp you’re contacting people who are almost exclusively in your phone book, they’re people you trust... they’re friends, colleagues and extended family and onwards, you’ve got everyone there,” said Sandhu.

According to Hundal, the fallacy some less advanced users fall into is the idea that everything on the internet must be true.

“People trust too easily what comes into their phone from a friend, and they shouldn’t do that, they should do a quick google search and establish facts with a reputable news organization,” he said.

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