In a recent blog post by WhatsApp, the instant messaging service will embark on labeling forwarded messages in an attempt to stop the spread of fake news.
According to the blog post, WhatsApp will label messages that have been forward multiple times from one user to the next.
“This extra content will help make one-on-one and group chats easier to follow. It also helps you determine if your friend or relative wrote the message they sent or if it originally came from someone else.”
This feature, though just now being availed to every user, has been in the trial test among users in India. The country is the biggest market for WhatsApp, alongside Brazil. The move was particularly necessitated in India following numerous incidences of child trafficking information being spread via the app.
The company (WhatsApp) has in the past offered specialists cash awards if they could come up with ways to spot misinformation spreading through the app. These specialists research into how misinformation spread through the service and based on a fact-checking mechanism, be able to detect fake news and thus come up with means to stop their viral spread.
