WhatsApp takes on fake news, rolls out 'Frequently Forwarded' feature in India

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WhatsApp has rolled out in India its ‘Frequently Forwarded’ feature, which tells users if a message has been forwarded multiple times. The feature targets to limit the spread of fake news on the platform. The new feature marks messages that are sent multiple times as “forwarded many times.”

The frequently forwarded label is available for both Android and iOS users. While there is no clarity on whether it will be available to all users, it is expected that it would be just a matter of time before it is made available to all Indian users.

You can check if the feature is active by sending a forwarded message to another user. If the message has been forwarded multiple times previously, WhatsApp will alert you with the “forwarded many times” label. However the exact number of times that it has been forwarded would remain encrypted and not available to end-users.

According to the messaging platform, the label gets activated once a message has been forwarded five times. And once alerted, the user can then decide whether s/he wants to send the message or quit.

The frequently forwarded feature is an attempt by the Facebook-owned messaging service to curb the spread of fake news through the platform. If a user goes ahead and sends a message that has a frequently forwarded label, s/he cannot subsequently attempt to wriggle out of charges of spreading fake news or inflammatory messages.

WhatsApp last month threatened to sue organisations/individuals abusing the platform, and ahead of the recent Lok Sabha elections, had even cautioned political parties on this front.

WhatsApp utilises artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle dissemination of bulk news and automated behaviour patterns on the platform.

A statement in WhatsApp’s blog post read: “Beginning on December 7, 2019, WhatsApp will take legal action against those we determine are engaged in or assisting others in abuse that violates our Terms of Service, such as automated or bulk messaging, or non-personal use, even if that determination is based on information solely available to us off our platform.”

The messaging platform also confirmed that it could ban offending accounts solely based on machine-learning classifiers.