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WhatsApp in Sierra Leone : burning bridges or building them?

  • Jon Silverman
Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Open access

Sustainable Development Goals

  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
    SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Abstract

The text messaging application WhatsApp has been heavily criticized for acting as a vehicle for the spread of misinformation and unsubstantiated rumour, leading, in some parts of the world, to violence and even death. But the closed nature of WhatsApp groups has presented a structural problem as a subject for credible social science research. A collaborative project between the Universities of Bedfordshire (UK) and Sierra Leone has tracked messaging in an experimental student WhatsApp group using critical discourse analysis in order to generate a deeper understanding of discursive influences in a fragile society. It asks whether the affordance of a WhatsApp group necessarily amplifies offline polarizations and explores routes to consensuality in a divided post-conflict state. It concludes that more robust interventions by group administrators could foster free speech while avoiding the need for intrusive regulation from outside agencies. Key words – social media; discourse; rumours; WhatsApp;ethno-regional;divisive

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 82-104

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review (Volume 12, Issue 1)

Publication milestones

  • Accepted/In press - 13/11/2020
  • Published - 19/11/2020

Publication status

Published - 19/11/2020

ISSN

2156-695X

External Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/624624
  • Scopus: 85133467701

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