Tech and Telecom

WhatsApp’s New Restrictions Aim to Stop Fake News & Propaganda

Fake news has become a growing concern. Despite efforts by governments across the globe and people rallying on the social media platforms, there is no stopping fake news.

However, with a recent update, WhatsApp has attempted to stall the ongoing practice. You will only be able to forward a message to 5 different people at a time, down from 20 before the update.

What Caused The Change?

Of course, there’s a kind of innocent gossip as well, like the one you do with your friend regarding a mutually hated acquaintance. It does not look bad, but the other kind that can take people out on roads and cause mob violence is quite worrisome.

After many incidents of mob violence over alleged child abduction or cow slaughter or simple theft in India, WhatsApp has decided to limit the ability to circulate messages.


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It will accomplish so by preventing the users from circulating the posts to more than five people or groups. It has also decided to remove the quick forward button present right next to messages.

Notably, this feature was introduced only in India, but now the company has decided to roll it out all over the world.

Global Rollout

According to the website WABetaInfo, the limit will be placed ‘globally.’ This update implies you can no longer send a message to more than five people.

Prior to this update, the users were able to forward posts to 20 people among their contacts, enabling the rumors to spread like wildfire.

Although it can bring a bit of an inconvenience for you, it has the propensity to save many people’s lives.

Via: Metro

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Published by
Ambreen Shabbir