WhatsApp is often used to spread fake news and misinformation. Although the messaging app claims to have implemented a series of features to limit the spread of fake news, WhatsApp users often receive misleading messages containing unverified information. Therefore, it becomes important to know how to verify the information you get on WhatsApp. This is also important especially now that elections for the country’s legislative assembly are underway and Ukraine is facing a deadly crisis due to the Russian invasion.
As many as 10 fact-checking organizations in India provide clues on WhatsApp so that users can verify the information they receive. These tips are verified by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) and can be used to verify potentially misleading content, including photos, videos, and audio recordings. Most of them also support English and as many as 11 Indian languages, including Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, etc.
Fact-checking tips for WhatsApp in India
Here are unique fact-checking tips on WhatsApp that you can use to identify fake news and verify information.
AFP: +91 95999 73984
Prosperity: +91 77009-06111 / +91 77009-06588
Fact Crescendo: +91 90490 53770
In fact: +91 92470 52470
India Today: +91 7370-007000
News Checker: +91 99994 99044
News Mobile: +91 11 7127 9799
Five Network Qoof: +91 96436 51818
Healthy India Project: +91 85078 85079
Vishwas News: +91 92052 70923 / +91 95992 99372
In addition to the above tips, IFCN also has a dedicated WhatsApp chatbot that can help users verify their information. It is said to connect users with independent fact-checkers in more than 70 countries around the world.
How to use fact-checking tips on WhatsApp
Users need to save the number of a given fact-checking tip in their contacts or click on their link and then send them a “Hi” on WhatsApp to verify their information. Most of the listed fact-checking tips also have access to their latest fact-checking content when contacted via messaging apps. It’s worth noting that since prompts are chatbots in nature, they will take some time to verify the information you provide.
What do the different fact-checking tips on WhatsApp in India offer?
The main purpose of WhatsApp fact-checking tips is to help users verify potentially misleading information they receive in the form of photos, videos, and voice and text messages. Here are the details on how they work, which can help verify information on messaging apps.
AFP: The AFP fact-checking tip line is designed to fact-check text messages, videos and photos. It is available in English and Hindi and can be used to subscribe to AFP’s newsletter and read fact-checks specific to the Ukraine conflict.
Prosperity: Similar to AFP, the Boom FactCheck tip line is available in English and Hindi. It works in Bengali too. Users can choose to verify the photos, videos, audio and text they own. It also allows subscribing to the Boom Newsletter and reading Boomlive’s latest fact-checking stories.
Facts crescendo: Unlike AFP and Boom, Fact Crescendo supports nine languages in total, including Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Odia and Tamil. It also allows users to share their information in the form of text, photos, and videos. In addition to verifying users’ information, the reporting hotline provides fact-checking content and the latest updates on the spread of COVID-19.
In fact: Factly Fact Checking allows users to submit requests for fact-checking of articles, videos, and other content. Users can also subscribe to Factly’s newsletter for daily fact-checking content, or get the latest fact-checks from the site. However, it does not support local languages and only works in English.
India Today: Similar to Factly, India Today Group Fact Check allows users to submit information in the form of messages, photos or videos. It also provides the latest updates on the Russia-Ukraine war, UP elections and allows users to subscribe to the India Today Fact-Checking newsletter. Apart from English, India Today’s tips are also available in Hindi.
News Checker: Newschecker supports nine languages in total including English, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi and Urdu. It allows users to share their suspicious messages, photos and videos, as well as subscribe to the site’s daily newsletter.
News mobile: Just like other fact-checking tips, Newsmobile allows users to search for fact checks and view the latest fact checks. It also provides tips for combating misinformation.
Wulian.com Qoof: Quint’s WebQoof also works similarly to other prompts and supports English and Hindi. It also allows users to subscribe to the WebQoof newsletter.
Healthy India Project: Unlike other fact-checking tips, Healthy India Project specializes in verifying health information and facts. It also allows subscribing to daily updates about health.
Vishwas News: The Vishvas News Fact Checking Tip Line is designed to inform users of the latest fact checks and provide access to verify questionable news, photos, and videos. It is available in English and Hindi and provides access to Vishvas News newsletter.
technology shout briefly tested all the different tips available on WhatsApp in India to determine their usefulness in identifying fake news and verifying information.
We used two tweets with old videos, one tweet with old images, and images with fake text. All content relates to recent events but has been proven by verifiable sources to be false or misleading. Reporters from Factly, India Today, Quint WebQoof and Newsmobile were able to respond to the images we shared, while others did not respond despite waiting for hours. Factly and Quint WebQoof were also able to verify that the tweet link we shared was incorrect. However, until the time of publication, other leads were not able to verify the link to the tweet we shared.
Due to the volume of inquiries received, it may take some time for fact-checkers to respond to users.
When prompted to respond with details, technology shout will update this article so it’s clear for our readers.
