Countering Misinformation Via WhatsApp: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic in Zimbabwe

"WhatsApp messages from a trusted source increase Zimbabwean citizens' knowledge and preventative behavior regarding COVID-19."

Zimbabwean citizens, like others in the Global South, rely heavily on WhatsApp to access and share information. Unfortunately, misinformation can spread quickly on this platform as well. During the period of this research, the COVID-19 virus had reached Zimbabwe, and the government had just imposed a national lockdown to limit the spread of the virus. Already, WhatsApp users were questioning the necessity of preventative measures, and posts with misinformation about virus transmission and cures had gone viral. In this context, researchers from the Center for International Development (CID) at Harvard University examined the effectiveness of short WhatsApp messages whose purpose was to address misinformation and mistrust in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. These messages were jointly crafted by Internews, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) operating in Zimbabwe, and Kubatana, described here as a trusted online media civil society organisation (CSO).

In the first week, the WhatsApp message explained rates of COVID-19 transmission and emphasised the importance of social distancing to lower them. In the second week, the message debunked a viral piece of misinformation on fake cures for COVID-19. Kubatana, which shares information with its subscribers on issues relating to civil and human rights in Zimbabwe, disseminated the messages in English, Shona, and Ndebele through its WhatsApp broadcast lists. In addition, the organisation maintained its usual publishing and activity schedule.

To evaluate the messages' effect, the researchers randomised their timing as follows: Subscribers in broadcast lists assigned to the treatment condition in a given week were sent the message on Monday, while subscribers in broadcast lists assigned to the control condition were sent the message on Saturday. Between these 2 days, Kubatana sent 2 additional WhatsApp messages to its subscribers: between Tuesday and Wednesday, it sent its weekly newsletter, and, on Thursday, it distributed a short survey designed to test treatment effects on (i) knowledge of the information disseminated in the messages, and (ii) behaviour relating to social distancing. Kubatana disseminated both the messages and survey without sharing broadcast list information with CID researchers.

The survey sample comprises 868 respondents over 2 weeks, with 585 from the first week and 283 from the second week. (Table 1 in the paper provides descriptive statistics relating to the sample, and the methodology is detailed). In short, the results show:

• There were "substantively large effects of the WhatsApp messages on individual knowledge." In the baseline specification with randomisation block fixed effects, respondents assigned to the treated WhatsApp broadcast list in a given week reported correct responses (factual knowledge) roughly 7 percentage points greater than respondents assigned to a control list (a 12% increase).
• With regard to behaviour, "In the baseline specification, among respondents assigned to the control condition, 37% (p <0.001) did not comply with social distancing. However, among respondents assigned to the treatment condition, this behavior drops to 7% (p= 0.47). The difference between these effects is statistically significantly different (p <0.05), implying that the WhatsApp messages changed related behavior."

The fact that the researchers found relatively uniformly estimated effects across subgroups - e.g., across the urban-rural and gender divide - highlights, in their eyes, the potential of CSOs in sub-Saharan Africa to use WhatsApp to fight misinformation, especially during health crises. The results "further highlight the similar role that other WhatsApp newspapers in the region might play (e.g., The Continent in South Africa and 263Chat in Zimbabwe)."

In reflecting on the findings, the researchers point to the importance of trusted sources, particularly during a time (the COVID-19 pandemic) when the identification and dissemination of correct information represent a challenge, and in an authoritarian context where trust in information and authorities might be low. They recommend that future research consider how to integrate WhatsApp messages aimed at targeting misinformation into a CSO's ongoing programming without inducing disengagement. During the study, Kubatana's WhatsApp messaging increased threefold; after 2 weeks, the organisation reported 4 unsubscribers - a number that, while low, is unusual for it.

In conclusion: "While WhatsApp has been identified as a platform through which misinformation easily spreads,...trusted CSOs can also leverage WhatsApp's reach to successfully get individuals to reassess their misconceptions and correct related behavior."