WhatsApp a favourite tool for right-wing to influence voters during polls

Agencies
August 31, 2019

In a significant find, researchers have discovered that right-wing users are more effective in using Facebook-owned WhatsApp to spread news, disinformation and opinions during elections. After performing the first large-scale analysis of partisan WhatsApp groups in the context of Brazil's 2018 election, the researchers from Northwestern University found that right-wing groups in Brazil were much more numerous and shared substantially more multimedia content and YouTube videos than left-wing groups. With more than 120 million users, Brazil is the second-largest WhatsApp market in the world after India which has 400 million users of the Facebook-owned platform.

"Our ultimate goal is to understand how information and misinformation spreads, so we can find technological interventions," said Larry Birnbaum, the study's senior author. "We want to find ways to help people better evaluate the information they receive.

Media literacy has not caught up with rapid changes in technology," Birnbaum added. From September 1 to November 1, 2018, Birnbaum and Victor Bursztyn followed 232 partisan groups.

During that time, they collected 2.8 million messages from more than 45,000 users (This is 3.5 times as many messages and 2.4 times as many users than the largest competing dataset to date). The team discovered multiple differences between right- and left-wing groups. In the studied sample, right-wing groups shared 5.5 times as many messages as left-wing users. Of the messages shared by right-wing users, 46.5 per cent were multimedia messages, such as photos, audio and video files. Just 30 per cent of left-wing messages included multimedia. "It's hard to say whether multimedia is more effective in influencing opinions, but right-wingers are more savvy in using them," said Birnbaum. "Images are always more compelling than text."

They also found that the most-shared news by WhatsApp groups during the 2018 presidential election campaign came from websites that spread disinformation, as identified by several fact-checking agencies. "Data suggests that both sides consume this content, but it's a more prevalent problem on the right," Birnbaum said. The team will present their findings at the IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining in Vancouver, Canana, on Friday. During the general elections in India this year, WhatsApp was blamed for influencing voters. WhatsApp turned out to be the biggest social media platform for more than 87,000 groups to target millions with political messaging, according to social media experts.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, in a commentary piece, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of influencing voters via social media platforms in Lok Sabha elections and WhatsApp being their favourite medium simply because of its massive reach. Despite tall claims made by Facebook that it is removing 10 lakh fake accounts a day in India, a recent survey by online start-up Social Media Matters and New Delhi-based Institute for Governance, Policies and Politics revealed that one in two Indians receive fake news via Facebook and WhatsApp. The survey stated that 96 per cent of the sample population received fake news via WhatsApp.

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News Network
May 23,2020

Mangaluru, May 23: In order to ensure that students do not miss out on their studies due to educational institutions being shut owing to the coronavirus lockdown, Dakshina Kannada Pre-university College Principles Association (DKPUCPA) is conducting online classes on YouTube for pre-university students.

The online lessons are shot by lecturers at St Aloysius College and the lectures are then uploaded on YouTube enabling students to watch them online.

"The whole world is currently in a crucial situation because of COVID-19, and because of the lockdown, all are forced to stay indoors. Usually, we used to conduct lectures in a class full of students, but now it is a new experience that we are providing the same information to students in their absence," Rajaram Rao, a lecturer said while speaking to news agency.

He said at present these classes are being conducted for second year pre-university students.

If any student has a doubt on any concept, he said they can contact the teachers. "At present, students also are getting information about the teachers who have uploaded the videos. All the information about the teachers is already being uploaded on the system so that they can contact the teacher," he said.

Dhanya, a student, hailed the DKPUCPA for the setting up of the online classes despite the prevailing situation.

"The teachers who have taught in these classes have taught very well, as if they are teaching right in front of us. It has been very useful for me during this time," she said.

The nationwide lockdown imposed to combat the threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic has been extended to May 31.

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News Network
February 9,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 9: Six persons, including three Nigerian nationals, have been arrested for their involvement in a fake kidney racket, through which they duped over 300 people, police said on Sunday.

The case was cracked by a Special Investigating Team (SIT) headed by Banasawadi, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Raviprasad. These people had duped scores of people, by misusing the name of a well known hospital located in Bengaluru.

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News Network
June 24,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 24: About 8,48,203 students will appear in the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination tomorrow, i.e., June 24, said Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu on Wednesday.

Students have been advised to report to the examination centre three-hour before the commencement of the examination i.e., at 07:30 am. The examination will commence at 10:30 am.

Early entry to the centres will also help maintain social distancing that is very much essential during the pandemic, minister for primary and secondary education S Suresh Kumar said.

"SSLC exams to take place tomorrow. About 8,48,203 students will write the exam. Social distancing needs to be followed and the mask should be used. Minister of Education and I have already held a lot of meetings. Students from containment zones will be carefully handled," said Sriramulu.

Commenting upon the situation arising in the state due to COVID-19, Sriramulu said, "There is a panel of experts to decide about lockdown. There has been an opinion that the COVID-19 test should be increased. Workers, traders, and others should be categorised in 15 categories and tests must be conducted," he added.

Sriramulu further said that there will be a meeting of task force on the coming Monday.

"All the issues will be brought to the notice of the Chief Minister at the task force meeting, then CM will take a call on what needs to be done," he said.

Meanwhile, Suresh Kumar, Minister of Education inspected the schools and places where SSLC exams will be held.

Earlier Karnataka Education Minister S Suresh Kumar had announced that SSLC examinations, which were stayed in view of the coronavirus pandemic, will be conducted 'between June 25 and July 4' in the state.

According to the Union Health Ministry, Karnataka has 9,721 COVID-19 cases including 150 fatalities.

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