Notable features: Discord is organised into servers. However: if you are running a VPN that has been flagged as used by troublemakers, Discord may ask to verify your account with your phone number.Įncryption: Discord does not provide end-to-end encryption. Set-up requirements: You can set up a Discord account with an email address, no phone number required. In another example of coordination, BuzzFeed News reported in early 2017 that Donald Trump supporters had used the platform to try to influence that year’s French election. As such it has come under scrutiny from journalists in recent years as a home for the white nationalists. Discordĭiscord is a real-time messaging app similar to Slack designed for gaming communities, but the app has also become a place to talk politics and coordinate campaigns - for example, the ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, North Carolina. Notable features: “Groups” on Telegram hold up to 200 members, “Supergroups” hold up to 200,000 members, and “Channels” allow unlimited subscribers, according to the app’s FAQ. It is not encrypted for groups or channels. Some users have said they were able to set up accounts using Google Voice numbers, but many others said this method failed.Įncryption: Telegram is encrypted end-to-end for voice calls and “secret” chats between two online users. Set-up requirements: T elegram requires a working phone number for setup although this can be hidden later. Last year Iran finally banned Telegram as well, but it has remained the most popular messaging app in the country, accessed via VPNs. The app is home to former 8channers and right-wing social media personalities who migrated to Telegram after the larger platforms cracked down on violations to their community guidelines.īut it has also been used by activists in Hong Kong protesting the Chinse government, and millions of users in Iran after the government blocked access to messaging apps Viber and Line. Telegram has become a popular meetinghouse for activists of all political stripes in large part because of its “channels” feature, which allows a user to broadcast content to an unlimited number of subscribers. Notable features: Groups can hold up to 256 members. You can also scrape the web for group links, although it breaks the platform’s terms of service. You can find these groups by searching “” on Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. But WhatsApp gives group administrators the power to create invite links and, if those links are posted on the web, those groups effectively become public, meaning anyone can join without admin approval. You can use a landline or Google Voice number to receive a verification code for set-up, and after that you’re good to go.Įncryption: WhatsApp is encrypted by default, both for one-to-one chats and group messaging. Set-up requirements: You need a working phone number to set up an account, but only for registration. Between 20 an explosion of rumours on the platform fanned the flames of socio-economic divisions and political grievances that led to mob violence and the deaths of more than forty people. The app has also been at the heart of misinformation crises in Brazil and India, WhatsApp’s biggest market. With 1.6 billion monthly active users, WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app internationally and the third-most popular social platform after Facebook (2.4 billion) and YouTube (2 billion). Here are five of the main services on the market, and what you need to know about them. If you are a reporter or a researcher covering political disinformation, it may be worth understanding how these services work, who uses them, and why they are important to those communities. Closed messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram are tools for both political organizing and political disinformation worldwide, and they’re becoming increasingly popular as privacy concerns rise and coordinated campaigns try to fall further under the radar.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |