Covid-19 misinformation: WhatsApp reduces message forwarding to one chat at time

Team Udayavani, Apr 7, 2020, 1:28 PM IST

In an attempt to cut down on the spread of misinformation and false stories about coronavirus, WhatsApp will now limit users to forwarding messages to one chat at a time. Prior to this update, users were allowed to forward a message for up to five times.

Amid the lockdown imposed across several countries to contain spread of coronavirus, there has been a substantial rise of forward messages on WhatsApp. The company in a blog post recently noted that WhatsApp has seen a rise in users sending forwards, several of which are hoaxes, rumours and other kinds of false stories about coronavirus and other news events. Hence, the restrictions have been imposed to slow the spread of misinformation.

The new update is meant to restrict users from forwarding a message to more than one user at once. However, this doesn’t mean that users won’t be able to forward messages to multiple users at all. They can still copy a message and paste in the textbox of various chats. Users can also use the forward option multiple times to send a single message to various users.

WhatsApp is also testing a feature that allows users to verify the message before forwarding them. A small magnifying glass is displayed next to frequently forwarded messages. Once a users clicks on the magnifying glass he will be directed to a web search for the message that will let him verify the facts.

A new blog post from WhatsApp made clear that the intention of the feature was not to stop all forwarding or viral messages, but that it hoped the changes would allow people to be more careful about what they share.