Amidst the coronavirus outbreak, there has been a lot of fake news circulating all around, which is adding to the confusion.
In order to stop this, Whatsapp has announced a strict rule for users.
Whatsapp Forwards Limited To One Chat At A Time
Starting today, Whatsapp users can forward a forwarded message to only one user, at a time.
This has been done to stop the spread of fake news related to coronavirus.
In a blog, Whatsapp said, “We are now introducing a limit so that these messages can only be forwarded to one chat at a time.”
Which Messages Cannot Be Forwarded?
Last year, Whatsapp had introduced a new label to filter out forwarded messages, which are now labelled with double arrows.
These messages are forwarded messages, which have originated from other accounts, and reached a user.
These forwarded messages with double arrows can now be forwarded to only one chat at a time.
Whatsapp said, “As a private messaging service, we’ve taken several steps over the years to help keep conversations intimate.”
What Is The Logic Behind This?
In January 2019, Whatsapp had limited the forwarded messages to 5 chats at a time.
Hence, a forwarded message from someone else was stopped from being forwarded to more than 5 people at a time. As per Whatsapp, this single move resulted in 25% less messages being forwarded globally, and hence, helped in reducing the spread of fake news as well.
This success prompted Whatsapp to limit the forwards to just one chat at time, which will further limit the spread of fake news, all over the world.
Whatsapp said, “For example, we previously set limits on forwarded messages to constrain virality, which led to a 25% decrease in message forwards globally at the time.”
Whatsapp’s Focus On Being Private Messaging App
Whatsapp in their blog, mentioned the term ‘private messaging app’ several times.
And the limit to forwarded messages is an endeavor in the same direction: They want users to limit the forwarded messages, and rather use it for personal communication.
They said, “We believe it’s important to slow the spread of these messages down to keep WhatsApp a place for personal conversation.”
Earlier, Whatsapp had informed that more than 20 lakh users are banned every month, to stop bots and forwarded messages invading their platform.
You can find Whatsapp’s complete announcement here.
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