If someone – whether or not jokingly – reports your message, WhatsApp employees will read your last five messages, reports research platform Propublica.
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If someone in a chat group sends shocking images or sends spam, users can report it via a report button. Then a team of a thousand hired moderators is called in, reports the American research platform Propublica. These employees check whether there is child pornography, child abuse, hate speech, terrorist threat or spam.
Context
To do this, the WhatsApp moderators not only view the controversial message, but also the four previous messages. This context should help determine whether the reported message should lead to the account being monitored or blocked. WhatsApp’s terms and conditions therefore state that you agree to sending ‘a few messages’ if you report a message. According to Propublica, the privacy of its two billion users is at risk.
WhatsApp reported more than 400,000 possible cases of child abuse in this way in 2020. But the report button is also often misused for chatter and jokes in chat groups.
Linked account also come into view
To value notifications, an automated system works with users’ warnings and links them to data WhatsApp itself collects about accounts, usage patterns and possible past violations. According to Propublica, this information includes profile photos, telephone numbers, details about the device and any linked Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Technically speaking, the message traffic in WhatsApp remains encrypted, and thus protected against unwanted co-readers. They are users who – other people’s – decrypt messages by reporting them, whether or not in jest.
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