TSE and WhatsApp promote whistleblowing channel



The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) and WhatsApp started the discussion on fighting disinformation this week. The president of the TSE, Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, participated in a meeting this Thursday (27) with the head of WhatsApp, Will Cathcart, to exchange ideas on dealing with fake news during the electoral process in Brazil in the 2022 Elections.

During the meeting, there was recognition of the importance of this dialogue and partnership, in addition to addressing specific points of the program to combat disinformation. The program was created in 2019 and since then there has been a movement to fight the spread of false information on the Facebook messaging app, known today as “Meta”.

How the partnership between WhatsApp and TSE will work

With the partnership of WhatsApp with the TSE, an official virtual assistant (chatbot) will be developed for the Superior Electoral Court to be used within the messaging application. This will make it easier for the TSE to communicate with voters, in addition to facilitating access to Electoral Justice services such as, for example, polling locations and information about candidates.

WhatsApp will offer dialogue sessions and training courses for employees of the Regional Electoral Courts (TREs) addressing information combat and collaboration mechanisms developed within the messaging application. During the meeting, it was said by WhatsApp that new features that could significantly impact its platform during the elections in Brazil will not be implemented.

WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart says:

“The TSE’s program to combat disinformation is internationally recognized as an example in protecting electoral processes. At WhatsApp, we share this commitment and will have a constant and active engagement with authorities, civil society, the press and fact checkers to work together to combat to misinformation.

We firmly believe in protecting the privacy of people’s conversations and believe in thoughtful changes such as forwarding limits that discourage misinformation while respecting privacy. We will maintain the effective measures we have taken and we are not planning any significant changes to WhatsApp in Brazil during the election period.”

Font: TSE

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