Instant Messaging platform, WhatsApp has reportedly limited users to 5 text forwards to curb rumours, and this started off on Monday.
Though before now, a WhatsApp user could forward a message to 20 individuals or groups, however the limit of five is in expansion of a measure WhatsApp put in place in India in July after the spread of rumours on social media led to killings and lynching attempts.
“We’re imposing a limit of five messages all over the world as of today,” Victoria Grand, Vice President for Policy and Communications at WhatsApp, said at an event in the Indonesian capital.
In recent times, there has been global concern that the platform which has over 1.5 billion users, was being used to spread fake news, manipulated photos, videos without context, and audio hoaxes, with no way to monitor their origin or full reach.
The app’s end-to-end encryption allows groups of hundreds of users to exchange texts, photos and video beyond the purview of independent fact checkers or even the platform itself.
