WhatsApp limits forwards to one chat at a time in India to halt spread of coronavirus misinformation

Chennai: WhatsApp on Tuesday put spokes in the ever-turning wheel of misinformation by restricting forwards to just one chat at a time. The update has come to India first, in an indication of how widely the platform is being used to spread unverified information in the country. It will soon be rolled out globally.

Similarly in August 2018, WhatsApp limited forwarding to five chats after the platform found it was being used extensively in India to spread misinformation, fake news and propaganda.

The app, which has 2 billion users worldwide introduced the curbs globally around January 2019. NDTV reported that WhatsApp claimed the restrictions led to a 25 per cent decrease in forwards globally.