Misinformation and false facts is what many people are fed up of amidst the coronavirus pandemic across the globe. WhatsApp is a platform where such information thrives and continues to spread and misinforms people. To deal with such issues, WhatsApp has come up with fresh measures to deal with the spread of such misinformation. If a user gets a frequently forwarded message, which has been forwarded more than five times, it can be identified with the help of a double arrow icon. Such messages can now be forward to only one chat at a time.
WhatsApp in a blog post said that it has said that it has noticed a significant rise in the number forwarded messages on the platform. The blog added that while most of them are memes, jokes and prayers, such practice can lead to a spread of misinformation. WhatsApp has urged that it is important to slow the spread of such messages so the platform can remain a place for personal conversation only and not for people to spread such misinformation.
However, this is not the first time the instant messaging platform has imposed such measures. It was during the violence in India, in 2018, WhatsApp as well as its parent company Facebook was accused of playing an important role in the spread of misinformation. The instant messaging app then reduced the number of times a message can be forwarded from 20 to five.
The rules that have been imposed right now is not expected to stop the spread of false information completely, as the users can still copy and paste the message and send it to people they wish through and it can also be a group that has hundreds of users. But still it continues to be an important step at a time when the entire world is dealing with the deadly virus which has already claimed many lives.
Photo Credits: The Next Web
