WhatsApp already started the limiting the forwarding options feature in India as a part of an effort to fight against rumours and hoaxes during the 2019 election period. Now the policy spreading worldwide. WhatsApp is the most popular messenger app worldwide with billions of active users.
Now Facebook is planning to implement this limit restriction worldwide from 20 people or groups to the same five Indian users. The update with limit forward option will roll out on January 21st initially to the Android users.
Read more: WhatsApp now has the second-most number of active users
In the past, Facebook faced some issues and criticism in Asia over the spread of Myanmar violence. To combat the situations, the social media giant is coming up with a solution. The team is investigating the role of the bulk messages related to the sensitive issue in India.
The effect of this initiative is still unknown in India. But the company is believing it will reduce the false hoaxes which can create chaos in sensitive issues. In India, this rule is running since July 2018.
“Starting today, WhatsApp will be implementing this change globally,” an official spokeswoman said in a statement Monday. “This will help keep WhatsApp focused on private messaging with close contacts.”
As per reports, the WhatsApp is less popular in the US and it has billions of active users worldwide. As per the report, Indian users grew 40% last year in terms of spending time on social media apps. Also, because of its encryption feature, the platform can’t monitor or access the information passed by forwarding option. In India, more than 200 million users are active and it is a country where more concerns are there to be taken care of.
WhatsApp has taken similar steps in the past in response to government suggestions and warnings to control the spread of misleading and false information.
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