A new information hub has been initiated by WhatsApp offering guidance on reducing the spread of misinformation often seen recently during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The Facebook-owned hub includes tips for those who use the app as part of their work as well as general users.
Concerns have been raised over the messaging and the amount of disinformation being spread via the platform in recent days and weeks in Ireland and further afield.
Content is harder to trace as messages on the service are end-to-end encrypted and therefore unreadable to anyone but those in a conversation.
Previous reports have suggested misleading and incorrect information is being widely forwarded to others on WhatsApp, spreading inaccurate information and panic.
WhatsApp said its Coronavirus Information Hub provides guidance for those in the health and education sector, as well as businesses and organisations using the service.
It has been launched in partnership with the World Health Organization, Unicef and the UN Development Programme, and will include information from those organisations.
Today @WhatsApp has launched a hub for health workers, educators, small businesses, and others that are using WhatsApp to support one another during this extraordinary crisis. You can check it out here https://t.co/ziwqtvbqXP
— Will Cathcart (@wcathcart) March 18, 2020
