Table of Contents
Introduction
Messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Viber are known for providing private spaces for conversations among family and friends. However, these apps have increasingly become arenas for intense political activity, including electoral campaigns. As the year 2024 is expected to be the biggest election year in history, our Center has initiated a study to examine how political operatives exploit the features and relative secrecy of end-to-end encrypted messaging apps to manipulate public opinion.
Survey Findings
As part of our study, we conducted a survey* in nine countries to gauge the prevalence and influence of political content in popular messaging apps. The survey results, which were collected from 4,586 respondents, supported our decision to delve into the political implications of these platforms. Some of the key findings include:
Frequency of Messaging App Usage
- People use messaging apps very frequently, sometimes incessantly.
- 36% of respondents stated that they use messaging apps several times per hour.
- 40% use messaging apps several times per day.
- 20% use them daily.
- Only 5% reported rarely using messaging apps.
- In Mexico, Indonesia, and Brazil, half of the respondents said they rely on messaging apps to stay connected with family and friends, likely due to their cheap or free messaging capabilities.
Receipt of Political Content from Unknown Sources
- Messaging app users receive large volumes of political content from people or accounts they don’t know.
- Of those who reported receiving political content via messaging apps in the past year, 54.5% stated that the content came from unknown sources.
- Political content often spreads through forwards and large group chats.
- India, Indonesia, Brazil, and the Philippines are particularly prone to the forwarding of political messages.
- Turkey and Hungary have a high incidence of the dissemination of political content in large groups (more than 1,000 people).
- People are often added to group chats without their consent and then bombarded with political messages.
- This happened to over 45% of respondents in South Africa and India.
Influence of Political Content on Opinions and Beliefs
- In some countries, a significant portion of respondents believe that political content shared on messaging apps has impacted their political opinions or beliefs.
- This belief was most prevalent in India, South Africa, Indonesia, and the Philippines, with over half of the population in each country reporting being significantly or somewhat influenced by political content on those apps.
Desire for Reporting and Fact-Checking Services
- Messaging app users overwhelmingly expressed a desire to be able to report problematic accounts or content (over 90%).
- However, they rarely follow through on this desire (only 12% reported doing so).
- Users also wish to consult with disinformation tiplines or fact-checking services when encountering potentially misleading political content, but they rarely utilize these resources.
Recommendations
The survey results underscore the relevance of messaging platforms to politics and highlight potential areas for intervention. In our forthcoming report, which will be published in collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Media Engagement, we will offer a series of concrete recommendations for messaging platforms, policymakers, and researchers to help mitigate political manipulation efforts on messaging platforms without compromising the privacy guarantees of end-to-end encryption.
*The survey was made possible by a generous gift from Peter A. Horvitz.
*Note: The article has been truncated to meet the requested word count.
