Whatsapp Workshop in Stellenbosch

I am ready to head back to Turkey, and just before the flight, I have a few notes on the workshop I attended.

First, it was a lovely international group of scholars, and I believe our final product as an edited book will be an essential source. The papers presented were in draft forms from many cases. Mine is a work in progress about the role Whatsapp (and other encrypted messaging platforms) plays in the broader disinformation context.

My paper was based on a research project conducted in 2021-2022 to contextualize EU-related disinformation in Turkey’s media ecosystem. The research was conducted as a team in which multi-modal research perspectives were used, including traditional media, public social media, public intellectual, and encrypted private messaging platforms like WhatsApp. My initial findings were that Whatsapp played a relatively more minor role in creating disinformation in Turkey as more public media platforms were already effective. However, signs of change exist, starting with the recent earthquake and the incoming elections. Nationalist groups may rely on these groups more than pro-government trolls who are backed by authorities and do not need to hide. The subject matter is also determining factor: Covid-related mis/disinformation circulation was more effective than other topics as citizens used this as a caring practice for their immediate family members. There is more to come, but let me think about all the feedback I got.