Use Chatbox on WhatsApp to check hoax information

Lovata Andrean

WhatsApp Chatbox
WhatsApp Chatbox

Use Chatbox on WhatsApp to check hoax information – In the digital era, the spread of hoaxes has become very massive. Hoaxes are usually spread by taking advantage of momentum and even disasters such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hoaxes related to Covid-19 do not only occur in Indonesia, but also globally and spread to other countries. For example, in developed countries like England, dozens of 5G towers were burned because they believed these towers were spreading the corona virus.

Unfortunately, the Chair of the Mafindo Presidium, Septiaji Eko Nugroho, said that Indonesia is a country that is quite massive in terms of the spread of Covid-19 hoaxes. "From research taken from various countries from February - April 2020, we are ranked 5th in the world of spreading hoaxes, stigma and conspiracy theories," said the man who is usually called Zack, during a virtual press conference, Tuesday (26/1/2021 ).

“We recorded 83 hoaxes related to vaccines. "The virality is quite high, because 40% of them are related to safety and efficacy issues," he added.

Zack explained that if information contains an element of fear, it is usually very easy to make people want to know and spread it. According to him, this kind of thing can be found in people who lack critical thinking.

He gave an example, there was an issue of doctors in Sumatra dying after being vaccinated. Then, after being vaccinated, the Regent of Sleman tested positive for Corona. A lot of information like this is incomplete but easily spreads on Indonesian social media.

"The intention may be good to share knowledge and awareness, but if it is not researched first, it can be misleading and dangerous," he said. To find out a hoax, Zack advises the public to look critically at any information that appears on social media and not from sites that have credibility. Currently there have also been various efforts by fact-checking channels. The government has a fact-finding site through the Ministry of Communication and Information. "We from Mafindo also manage the sites turnbackhoaks.id and cekcepat.com, which collaborate with 24 online media," explained Zack.

WhatsApp Chatbot

Apart from the methods above, previously Mafindo has also launched a chatbot on WhatsApp to verify the veracity of information. This chatbot is embedded with many features to make it easier to use. “There are more than 6.000 databases stored in the chatbot. "The content is related to political, social, disaster, health issues and many more," said Zack, at the launch of the chatbot, November last year. How to use it is very easy. Users simply save the number 0859-2160-0500. Then open the WhatsApp application, and send a message to the number with the desired keyword.

It didn't take long, the chatbot account immediately responded with five choices. 1. Check Hoaxes, 2. Check the Latest Facts, 3. Tips & tricks to fight hoaxes, 4. About us, 5. Privacy.

After that, the user just has to select one of the menus by just typing in the number, then press the send button. Apart from typing keywords, users can also forward messages they want to check.

"We will display the 5 findings with the highest accuracy from our hoax database," wrote the chatbot account.

source: inews.id

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Lovata Andrean

Hi, I'm Lovata, I'm not Ai but I am a content writer for SEO, Technology, Finance, Travel, Cooking Recipes and others. I hope this can be useful for all my friends. Thanks