In Congo, Ebola Responders Fear WhatsApp Voice Notes Are Spreading Fake News

An Ebola treatment center in Bunia, Ituri province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday. The recent use of WhatsApp voice notes has fueled misinformation regarding the outbreak and the intent of volunteers. Photo by Benediction Murhabazi/AFP/Getty Images

The Wall Street Journal
An Ebola response team ran into an unexpected obstacle when they arrived to spray a roadside market with disinfectant a couple of weeks ago: the admin for a local WhatsApp group.

“You have come to spread Ebola in our village. You must leave now,” the young man said at his banana stall in Kasenyi in Irumu district, in the eastern reaches of the Democratic Republic of Congo, before pulling his Chinese-made Tecno smartphone to record a voice note, according to interviews with the volunteers from the local Boga Youth Council.

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