How China's biggest social network fights fake news

WeChat posts the top rumors every month... so it can debunk them

Reading Time:3 minutes

The mini program tags debunked articles with “Rumor”. (Picture: WeChat)

Published: 8:15pm, 3 Oct 2018Updated: 8:41am, 20 Sep 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

In China, WeChat has become a primary news source for Chinese internet users, just as Facebook in the West. And just like Facebook, fake news can spread rapidly on China’s biggest social network.

WeChat, the app that does everything

One of the ways WeChat deals with rumors? They post the top ten rumors every month on an official account -- to debunk them.

So what rumors spread on WeChat this month? The top one claims that the government ordered that nobody is allowed to post “anything harmful to the Communist Party, the country and society” on WeChat, including any “political sensitive” topics. The official rumor-debunker says that’s not true!

(But, uh, you’re also not allowed to spread “content forbidden by the country’s regulation” in group chats, and China is notoriously quick to censor social media, so… I guess it’s also not fake news? But hey, we’re not professional rumor debunkers or anything.)

Another top rumor? That an article told people to stop using microwave ovens, because microwaved food gives people cancer (not true). Or that you can scan Chinese currency in the app QQ to see if they’re counterfeit (you can’t).

The debunking feature is apparently quite popular: The Rumor Filter account also operates a mini program, “WeChat rumor debunking assistant”, which WeChat claims is used by 300,000 people every day.

Here’s how the mini program works: The front page shows a feed of articles that have been debunked recently, with a search box at the top where you can search for terms and see if there are any debunked articles related to it.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x