How WhatsApp Utilises Machine Learning to Combat Fake News

The sudden rise in misinformation has forced WhatsApp to utilize ML to combat the viral spread of misinformation.

WhatsApp has utilized Artificial Intelligence machine learning algorithms to combat the viral spread of fake news across the world. This reliable platform allows you to send messages, contacts, payments, documents, locations also video and audio calls to anyone in your contact list. Forwarding different types of messages has become a habit for over 2 billion users in more than 180 countries without checking whether those are true or fake news. It only takes a few seconds for any information to be viral across the world. The spread of misinformation and disinformation can escalate like a world fire on WhatsApp without any superior control. Thus, let's look at how WhatsApp is using machine learning to prevent fake news in a few seconds.

WhatsApp combines complex human intelligence and AI machine learning algorithms to successfully curb the spread of fake news. Prof. Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, a professor at the IIIT Delhi stated that the team has been using machine learning solutions to detect fake news in the forms of images, texts, or recordings. The team has a clear understanding of how the machine learning framework will prevent the WhatsApp platform to be the reason for lynching, riots, and other violence.

The applications of AI technology in machine learning will examine each message available on the platform and will provide an authentic label to the message after detecting efficiently. All types of messages will be provided with two color codes— green for authentic and red for fake. WhatsApp experiences a large volume of messages on a daily basis, which makes the platform a hub for spreading fake news, rumors, and spam. It offers end-to-end encryption to block the third party from checking out other messages with respect to privacy. Due to the current scenarios including communal riots, elections, and COVID-19 pandemic news, WhatsApp has started utilizing machine learning algorithms to indicate red flags on the messages. Machine learning will assist in identifying multiple sets of real-time data to put a label on the behavioral pattern such as abusive, propaganda, or agenda.

AI-based machine learning also provides information related to automated accounts in which there is an absence of typing indicators without adding a particular code. This AI technology can remove those automated WhatsApp accounts and block the phone number permanently. That user can create different WhatsApp accounts with several phone numbers, if available. Machine learning has efficiently provided users with diverse options like block, report, and re-added permission. Integration of AI helps WhatsApp to disclose and ban the spammers who use emulators and other smart automated tools to create several accounts. It plays a crucial role in understanding real-time data of WhatsApp accounts such as IP address, country of origin, date of account creation, frequency of sending messages, and so on within a short span of time.

In 2019, WhatsApp announced that it banned more than 2 million accounts for sending bulk automated messages and fake news per month. This initiative was taken up with the use of machine learning because WhatsApp is a platform for private one-to-one messages and not a broadcast news platform. Machine learning AI technology has put a restriction on how many times a specific message can be forwarded including a number of texts. In order to combat fake news, it has also created partnerships with fact-checkers Boom Live, Alt News, and Ekta.

With the advent of AI technology with machine learning algorithms, WhatsApp is emerging as one of the largest social platforms in the global market. WhatsApp generates a continuous urge to enhance customer satisfaction with a diverse range of functionalities in protecting the privacy of WhatsApp accounts. We are experiencing the application of machine learning on WhatsApp to combat the spread of fake news. Indeed, it has been a successful venture!