WhatsApp limits number of forwards for Indian users
Rachel.Chitra@timesgroup.com
Bengaluru:09.08.2018
WhatsApp on Wednesday officially rolled out a limit of only five forwards at a time for Indian users in a bid to curb the spread of fake news and provocative content. With the rise in lynchings based on fake news, the social media platform has come in for widespread criticism.
The new limit is applicable only for its 200 million users in India. The move was announced by WhatsApp last month. “The limit has started to appear this week for people in India who are on the current version of WhatsApp. This week, WhatsApp is publishing a new video that explains the importance of the ‘forward’ label and calls users to ‘double check’ the facts when you’re not sure who created the original message,” said the company.
Now, if you try to forward a message to a sixth person at one go, the app tells you that you can only forward to five people. But a user can go back to the message and forward it again to another five contacts/ groups. So it does not stop mass forwards, but makes it more difficult for the user.
For WhatsApp, India is its largest user base with people forwarding more content than in any other country. The forwards are typically ‘good morning’ messages, funny videos, and photos. But sometimes there’s inflammatory content. On July1, TOI reported that a single WhatsApp rumour on child lifters resulted in the lynching of 22 people in 10 different states.
Rachel.Chitra@timesgroup.com
Bengaluru:09.08.2018
WhatsApp on Wednesday officially rolled out a limit of only five forwards at a time for Indian users in a bid to curb the spread of fake news and provocative content. With the rise in lynchings based on fake news, the social media platform has come in for widespread criticism.
The new limit is applicable only for its 200 million users in India. The move was announced by WhatsApp last month. “The limit has started to appear this week for people in India who are on the current version of WhatsApp. This week, WhatsApp is publishing a new video that explains the importance of the ‘forward’ label and calls users to ‘double check’ the facts when you’re not sure who created the original message,” said the company.
Now, if you try to forward a message to a sixth person at one go, the app tells you that you can only forward to five people. But a user can go back to the message and forward it again to another five contacts/ groups. So it does not stop mass forwards, but makes it more difficult for the user.
For WhatsApp, India is its largest user base with people forwarding more content than in any other country. The forwards are typically ‘good morning’ messages, funny videos, and photos. But sometimes there’s inflammatory content. On July1, TOI reported that a single WhatsApp rumour on child lifters resulted in the lynching of 22 people in 10 different states.
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