WhatsApp Limiting Message Forwarding Curbs 70 Percent Fake News Spread

WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned instant messaging platform is one of those services which is consistently receiving updates amidst the epidemic situation due to coronavirus outbreak. It is one of the most widely used services on mobile platforms and is used by the masses to stay connected.

But, the spread of fake news and faulty information is something this service has been trying to fend off lately. WhatsApp recently limited the forwarding messaging feature. And it seems that the new update has done the trick.

WhatsApp had restricted forwarding a message to one user or a group at a time earlier this month. The aim was to curb the spread of wrong information in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. This applies to the messages that have been already forwarded up to five times. As per the company, this new move by the company has dropped the spread of "highly forwarded" messages by up to 70 percent globally.

This is not the first time that WhatsApp has put a limit to the number of contacts a forwarded message can be shared. Earlier, this number was restricted to five users at a time. A company executive said in a statement, "We recently introduced a limit to sharing 'highly forwarded messages' to just one chat. Since putting into place this new limit, globally there has been a 70% reduction in the number of highly forwarded messages sent on WhatsApp".

One of the primary reasons for the company to put a limit on forwarding such viral messages has always been to curb the spread of wrong information. And we have seen the users in India circulating any forwarded message without cross-checking the facts.

And in the past few months with the coronavirus epidemic situation worsening, there was a huge spike in forwarded messages sharing treatment and other preventive measures which one can follow to stay safe from the virus.

While the messages were being shared with good intent, most of the information were unauthenticated. With a situation like this, we can't afford the public to start believing some false information and spread it to the closed ones.

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