WhatsApp Restricts Message Forwarding Option

The messaging application WhatsApp has announced that it is launching a global test to limit message forwarding for all its users, following requests from Indian authorities to curb the spread of rumors that have led to serious incidents.

Violent incidents triggered by false messages in India, WhatsApp’s largest market with over 200 million users, have prompted authorities to attempt to prevent the circulation of false messages and provocative content.

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In India, this Facebook application intends to test setting a lower limit for sending messages simultaneously to five individual or group chats, and it also plans to remove the quick forward button for media messages (audio, images, and videos).

Indians Forward the Most

This move is likely to curb mass message forwarding. Indians forward more messages, photos, and videos than any other nation in the world, WhatsApp states.

– We believe these changes, which we will continue to evaluate, will help WhatsApp remain what it was designed for: a private messaging application, the company highlighted on its blog.

Earlier this month, WhatsApp, in response to a call from the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, emphasized the need for partnership with the government, as well as society as a whole, to stop the spread of false information on the platform.

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Last week, WhatsApp also published an advertisement in major Indian daily newspapers to prevent the spread of false information, marking the first such action in the fight against false messages.

During this year, false messages on WhatsApp about child kidnappers have led to mass beatings of more than 10 people in India, resulting in some losing their lives. Last week, Indian police arrested 48 individuals who they claim were part of a group that killed a worker at a technology company in southern India due to suspicions that he and a group of his friends were child kidnappers.