WhatsApp Must Act to Protect Elections

Elections for about half the world’s population take place in 2024. But the integrity of these elections is under threat, because WhatsApp isn't doing enough to identify patterns of networked disinformation and hate speech on its platform – which can quickly turn into political violence.

Mozilla is making an urgent call for WhatsApp to implement three simple changes in its product to slow the spread of political disinformation and other harmful content on its platform. Will you add your name to ask WhatsApp to update its product to protect global elections?

Our Letter To WhatsApp:

WhatsApp needs to implement these product changes during polling days and in the month before and the month after elections:

  • Add friction to forwarding messages: Reduce the ease with which messages can be forwarded on the platform by adding one additional step which nudges users to pause and reflect before they forward content.
  • Add verification prompts to viral content: Automatically add clear "Highly forwarded: please verify" warning labels to viral messages, in addition to the "Forwarded many times" label currently in use."
  • Reduce WhatsApp’s broadcast capabilities: Disable the Communities feature and also limit the size of broadcast lists to 50 people and cap their usage to twice a day.

Without decisive action from WhatsApp, disinformation attacks will likely scale up in 2024, aimed at manipulating and undermining elections affecting half of the world’s population. WhatsApp must act to change its product to protect election integrity.

These recommendations are based on extensive research by Mozilla and civil society groups (see the "More Information" section below). Mozilla is urging WhatsApp to step up the measures it already implements, including labeling viral content, without accessing the content of messages. As the research stresses, none of these recommendations should be implemented in a manner that would either weaken encryption or lead to the implementation of client side scanning.

Update: The language and call to action was updated on 31 May 2024, based on discussions with the Global Encryption Coalition, to clarify that Mozilla is calling for WhatsApp to identify patterns of disinformation, and is not calling for interventions that would threaten encryption.

More Information:

Platforms, Promises and Politics: A Reality Check on The Pledges Platforms Make Before Elections. Written by Odanga Madung and Mozilla Open Source Research & Investigations. Published February 27, 2024.

Mozilla’s Elections Casebook: Scrutinizing What Steps Platforms Have Taken to Protect Election Integrity Globally. Written by Becca Ricks, Odanga Madung and Mozilla Open Source Research & Investigations. Published February 27, 2024.

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Elections for about half the world’s population take place in 2024. But the integrity of these elections is under threat, because WhatsApp isn't doing enough to identify patterns of networked disinformation and hate speech on its platform – which can quickly turn into political violence.

Mozilla is making an urgent call for WhatsApp to implement three simple changes in its product to slow the spread of political disinformation and other harmful content on its platform. Will you add your name to ask WhatsApp to update its product to protect global elections?

Our Letter To WhatsApp:

WhatsApp needs to implement these product changes during polling days and in the month before and the month after elections:

  • Add friction to forwarding messages: Reduce the ease with which messages can be forwarded on the platform by adding one additional step which nudges users to pause and reflect before they forward content.
  • Add verification prompts to viral content: Automatically add clear "Highly forwarded: please verify" warning labels to viral messages, in addition to the "Forwarded many times" label currently in use."
  • Reduce WhatsApp’s broadcast capabilities: Disable the Communities feature and also limit the size of broadcast lists to 50 people and cap their usage to twice a day.

Without decisive action from WhatsApp, disinformation attacks will likely scale up in 2024, aimed at manipulating and undermining elections affecting half of the world’s population. WhatsApp must act to change its product to protect election integrity.

These recommendations are based on extensive research by Mozilla and civil society groups (see the "More Information" section below). Mozilla is urging WhatsApp to step up the measures it already implements, including labeling viral content, without accessing the content of messages. As the research stresses, none of these recommendations should be implemented in a manner that would either weaken encryption or lead to the implementation of client side scanning.

Update: The language and call to action was updated on 31 May 2024, based on discussions with the Global Encryption Coalition, to clarify that Mozilla is calling for WhatsApp to identify patterns of disinformation, and is not calling for interventions that would threaten encryption.

More Information:

Platforms, Promises and Politics: A Reality Check on The Pledges Platforms Make Before Elections. Written by Odanga Madung and Mozilla Open Source Research & Investigations. Published February 27, 2024.

Mozilla’s Elections Casebook: Scrutinizing What Steps Platforms Have Taken to Protect Election Integrity Globally. Written by Becca Ricks, Odanga Madung and Mozilla Open Source Research & Investigations. Published February 27, 2024.