WhatsApp is about to get a new feature to combat the spread of fake news. Currently, there’s no way to know if a particular message was forwarded, but in the very near future, WhatsApp will label these messages accordingly.
This feature is detailed in a post on WhatsApp’s blog. According to the company, all messages that are forwarded will be labeled, and it’s not just limited to text messages. The labeling will apply to text, image, video, and even audio messages.
We tried forwarding a couple of messages on WhatsApp to try out the new feature, but none of them were labeled. Chances are, the feature has not been implemented yet for our region – at least, not for us, even though we’re running the latest version of the app. More likely than not, the update will be made available in the very near future.
Labeling forwarded messages is certainly a step in the right direction to combat fake news and misinformation, and it helps users to identify if these messages can be trusted. Hopefully, WhatsApp will release even more features like this to minimise the impact of fake news.
(Source: WhatsApp Blog via The Verge)
