Security News > 2020 > April > WhatsApp Tightens Sharing Limits to Curb Virus Misinformation
WhatsApp on Tuesday placed new limits on message forwarding as part of an effort to curb the spread of misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic.
The new policy limits users to forwarding certain messages to one "Chat" at a time, aiming to limit the rapid propagation of content which is provocative but likely to be false.
Last year, WhatsApp set limits on forwarded messages to five chats at a time, "To constrain virality," responding to events in India where the rapid proliferation of unverified information led to mob violence.
The new policy applies to messages forwarded "Many times" and marked with a double-arrow, indicating that it did not originate from a close contact, according to WhatsApp.
WhatsApp along with its parent Facebook have been scrambling to curb an explosion of rumors and hoaxes about the coronavirus and at the same time seeking to promote verified content.