
Viral Panic: How WhatsApp and Disease Misinformation Caused a Nationwide False Alarm
At the beginning of March, a false audio message about the current Dengue fever outbreak in Argentina went viral through Whatsapp, a mobile messaging service that has nearly 18 million users in in the country (57% of adults with Internet access), causing panic in the population and resulting in widespread accusations of the government suppressing information about a potential epidemic.