COVID-19 and Fake News: WhatsApp Limits Message Forwarding To One Chat

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.

WhatsApp Source: dailymail.co.uk

People are talking to doctors, teachers, and isolated loved ones via WhatsApp during this pandemic Coronavirus era.

That’s why all your messages and calls on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted by default to give you a secure place for your most personal conversations.








 
WhatsApp has decided to restrict forwarding of messages to one user at once in a bid to further curb the spread of fake news via its platfom.



In a blog post on its website, the Facebook owned platform who recently announced it now has over 2 billion users worldwide said -

“Last year we introduced users to the concept of messages that have been forwarded many times. These messages are labeled with double arrows to indicate they did not originate from a close contact. In effect, these messages are less personal compared to typical messages sent on WhatsApp.

We are now introducing a limit so that these messages can only be forwarded to one chat at a time.”

As a private messaging service, WhatsApp has taken several steps over the years to help keep conversations and decrease the sharing of fake news, messages and information by rolling out a feature to limit forwarding to more than 5 persons at once which led to a 25% decrease in message forwards globally at the time.

WhatsApp also says it is working directly with NGOs and governments, including the World Health Organization and over 20 national health ministries, to help connect people with accurate information.