Guwahati: With a view to limit the circulation of fake news and misinformation through its platform, WhatsApp on Tuesday narrowed down the limit of frequently forwarded messages to one chat at a time.
This comes as an update to the existing limit that was allowing users to forward a message for up to five times, but as noted above, only applies to frequently forwarded messages that have been previously forwarded five times or more.
The new move by the Facebook-owned company is aimed to help slow the spread of misinformation during the coronavirus outbreak that’s impacting people worldwide. WhatsApp was recently also spotted offering a feature to let users verify forwarded messages online.
Since many people are staying at home due to the coronavirus spread and lockdowns imposed in several countries including
India, WhatsApp forwards have increased to new levels. The company also noted in a blog post that it had seen a significant increase in the amount of forwarding that are counted as “overwhelming” by users and “can contribute to the spread of misinformation”. Thus, it makes sense for WhatsApp to limit forwards to one chat at a time.
( Gadgets 360 )
