Disinformasi Kesehatan di WhatsApp: Pola Penyebaran dan Strategi Literasi Digital

Abstract

Health disinformation on WhatsApp circulates within a semi-private communication space sustained by trust in family, friends, and community networks. This makes fact-checking and correction far more difficult than in open social media platforms. This article explains dissemination patterns of health disinformation on WhatsApp, identifies digital literacy vulnerabilities, and formulates legal implications and more suitable countermeasures for closed messaging environments. The study uses a qualitative normative approach based on literature review and document analysis of relevant publications from 2016 to 2025 on health misinformation, WhatsApp, digital literacy, social correction, and platform-based interventions. The findings show that chain messages, family groups, and community groups accelerate spread because users tend to trust messages received from familiar contacts. Vulnerability increases among groups with low health literacy, high trust in close networks, and greater susceptibility to conspiratorial narratives. The most promising interventions are short messages from trusted sources, audio or video educational materials that are easy to share, and collaboration among platforms, government, and civil society organizations. The article argues that countering health hoaxes on WhatsApp requires digital literacy, platform governance, and proportionate legal responses.