WhatsApp Limits Message Forwards to Reduce Misinformation about the Coronavirus Pandemic

The influx of false information has always been a problem for our society because sometimes the more terrible or dumb the news looks, the more likely people will share it.

In the case of today’s main topic — coronavirus – you can find a lot of articles about the methods of prevention or treatment of the disease, which bear absolutely no confirmation. The same applies to false or distorted news and other materials, which sometimes lead to extraordinary results.

In an attempt to combat the spread of misinformation, a new restriction on message forwarding has appeared in the WhatsApp messenger. Now, a link that has been redirected five times can be forwarded to no more than one chat at a time. Thus, this may not stop the flow of doubtful information but significantly slow down the speed of its distribution among users.

These are not the first steps of the company to create a safer space on the platform. Previously, the messenger imposed restrictions on the number of chats to which you can send something at the same time, and viral links were additionally marked with a pair of marks that indicated the popularity of the message.

It is worth noting that the new rule is the most stringent restriction of WhatsApp so far.