WhatsApp New Update: Forward only to one chat at a time to curb fake news

With billions of people unable to see their friends and family in person due to COVID-19, people are relying on WhatsApp more than ever to communicate. People are talking to doctors, teachers, and isolated loved ones via WhatsApp during this crisis.

This has also given rise to spread of misinformation via forwards. Earlier, WhatsApp had introduced the feature of double arrows to show how many times a message was forwarded. Also, all the messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted by default to give you a secure place for your most personal conversations.

Amid all the fake news forwards, Whatsapp has now imposed a limit on forwarding a message. You can only send forward a message to one chat at one time.

Whatsapp earlier imposed a similar limit on forwarding. The limit was 5 chats. Thus, they reported a 25% decrease in the spread of fake information. The company also noted in a blog post that it had seen a significant increase in the amount of forwarding. They counted this 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. To recall, WhatsApp had added a “Frequently Forwarded” message label in August 2019 to help users easily identify messages that didn't originate from close contact.

The new update is meant to restrict users from a frequently forwarded message to more than one user at once. However, this doesn't mean that users won't be able to forward a frequently forwarded message to multiple users at all. They can still copy a message and paste in the textbox of various chats. But with over 400 million users in India alone and 2 billion users, any sort of fake news or fake claims can cause mass hysteria.

"We believe it’s important to slow the spread of these messages down to keep this a place for a personal conversation," they said in the blog.

Earlier, WhatsApp announced that it has pledged $1million to combat fake news or misinformation regarding the coronavirus pandemic. The amount will go to the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), as per HT.