Curbing misinformation: 'Highly-forwarded' messages reduced by 70% after WhatsApp's new rules

Messaging application WhatsApp said that the spread of “highly-forwarded” messages on its platform dropped by 70% after it introduced forwarding limits to curb misinformation. The new rules came into effect in the first week of April as a response to allegations that coronavirus-related misinformation and conspiracy theories were circulating on the services.
The changes to the message-forwarding feature introduced by WhatsApp meant that any message that had previously been forwarded by five on more people could only be forwarded to a single person or group. However, if the sender wished to, they could send it to multiple recipients, albeit, one at a time.

The positive news means the new forward-limit feature has been success in slowing down the spread of viral messages. However, end-to-end encryption of the kind employed by the platform make it impossible to really know which of these actually contain malicious content. Innocuous content like pet videos and memes also fall into the “highly-forwarded” category.

WhatsApp has been under fire from legislators and law enforcement agencies in many countries over its role in relaying fake news during the pandemic, often with catastrophic consequences, as evidenced in the gathering of migrant workers at Mumbai’s Bandra station earlier this month over false news that the lockdown were to be lifted.

WhatsApp groups can have as many as 256 participants, making it easy for controversial news to spread exponentially. The company came under intense scrutiny after reports of misinformation and coronavirus cures circulating freely on its platform.

“We’ve seen a significant increase in the amount of forwarding which users have told us can feel overwhelming and can contribute to the spread of misinformation. We believe it’s important to slow the spread of these messages down to keep WhatsApp a place for personal conversation,” the company said in a post announcing restrictions on message forwarding.

WhatsApp has also partnered with the World Health Organization (WHO) to create a chat bot that provides verified information about the pandemic.