WhatsApp is about to introduce a new limitation on message forwarding which will surely cause quite a bit of controversy among users. According to WABetaInfothe platform will limit the number of chats to which we can forward a message that had already been previously shared.
The aforementioned medium mentions that the WhatsApp 2.22.7.2 update, which is currently in beta phase on Android, will only allow one message marked “forwarded” to be forwarded to one chat at a time. That is, if you intend to broadcast it in more than one chat, you will have to select the message again and resend it.
We emphasize that this will be only for messages tagged as “Forwarded”. In 2019, WhatsApp started flagging messages that exceeded a certain number of forwards. Four, to be exact. In this way, people could be more careful about the information they consume and share.
However, it is clear that it has not been enough. Although in recent years WhatsApp has redoubled its efforts to combat disinformation, the service continues to be a means of spread fake news in much of the world. With the new limitation, at least users will have to “work” harder when forwarding messages to multiple chats.
Why does WhatsApp introduce this limitation?
An interesting point is that, at the moment, from WhatsApp they have not explained the reasons that led them to introduce this feature. Despite the above, we intuit that they intend to accelerate its launch due to the events taking place in Eastern Europe. The ukrainian warunfortunately, has become the most talked about topic globally, and a significant part of the conflict involves the Internet and the way we use it to spread information.
As has already happened – and continues to happen – with the COVID-19 pandemic, the wave of disinformation surrounding the war in Ukraine was not long in coming. WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Reddit, among many other social platforms, are perfect ways to spread propaganda and fake news. The companies behind are perfectly aware of this situation, which is why in recent weeks they have taken forceful measures to try to stop it.
Facebook, WhatsApp’s sister platform, blocked RT and Sputnik, the Russian media affiliated with the Kremlin and whose propaganda tends to sneak into many corners of the internet. The government’s response was to block access to the social network. Twitter, meanwhile, began labeling their posts with the message “Russian government-affiliated media.” In Europe they went further, as they blocked their profiles and, at the time of writing this publication, they remain the same.
For now, WhatsApp has not resorted to any measure that involves, for example, blocking the sharing or forwarding of messages with links to RT and Sputnik. This would be very complicated—and controversial—because it would involve analyzing the content of the messages. Technically speaking, it wouldn’t even be possible due to end-to-end encryption.
So that, WhatsApp is doing what it can right now to combat disinformation. Once the limitation on the forwarding of messages labeled as “forwarded” has been introduced, we will be able to check if the restriction actually takes effect.