other encrypted messaging apps) groups are posted publicly,14 there is a
legitimate question as to whether people who join such groups should have a
reasonable expectation of privacy or not. Herein lies the ethical rub: If such
groups are having an important political impact – and misinformation spread
on WhatsApp groups has been blamed for interethnic violence in many
countries (McLaughlin 2018; Arun 2019) – then scholars are going to want
to understand that impact and policymakers are going to need the results of
such research to inform public policy. Yet, as long as the data remain
encrypted, these types of ethically challenging strategies to recover the
content of such conversation will be the easiest – and perhaps only – option
available.
Social_Media_and_Democracy