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WhatsApp Will Now Restrict Number Of Forwards To Five Globally, To Control Spread Of Misinformation
(Carl Court/Getty Images)
Learning from its India experience, WhatsApp will now globally restrict the number of forwards that a user can send to five at a time, in its latest move to curb the spread of misinformation and fake news on its platform, reports Press Trust of India (PTI).
“WhatsApp carefully evaluated this test and listened to user feedback over a six-month period. The forward limit significantly reduced forwarded messages around the world," said the company, in a blog post on Monday (21 January).
A WhatsApp spokesperson noted that the company saw a 25 per cent reduction in forwarded messages being shared on WhatsApp during the trial period.
“We believe that these changes - which we'll continue to evaluate - will help keep WhatsApp the way it was designed to be: a private messaging app,” the company had stated when it began experimenting with the limit in India in July 2018.
Following this, Whatsapp rolled out the feature in Brazil. However, it capped the forward limit at 20 in the Latin American country.
When Victoria Grand, VP for policy and communications at WhatsApp, was asked if the company would reduce the limit to five, she told Reuters: “We’re pretty comfortable with that number 20,” but that policy “could change over time.”
According to the latest update, the global limit of five will also apply to Brazil.
India Is The Largest Market
WhatsApp, a free messaging app, has more than one billion users in over 180 countries. India is its largest market, with over two hundred million users. The country is followed by Brazil, Mexico, Turkey and Russia.
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