WhatsApp will limit message forwarding to curb fake news in India

In an effort to curb the spread of fake news, popular instant messenger service WhatsApp has announced new controls for India.

Up until now, you could forward a message to multiple chats at once. Now, with the new changes, WhatsApp will limit messaging forward in India. The messaging service will include a plan to limit the number of chats that users can send forward to five in the country. It will also remove the ‘quick forward’ tab next to the media messages. However, globally, WhatsApp will limit the number of forwards to a maximum of 20 groups.

The company mentioned in a blog, “Today, we're launching a test to limit forwarding that will apply to everyone using WhatsApp. In India - where people forward more messages, photos, and videos than any other country in the world - we'll also test a lower limit of 5 chats at once and we'll remove the quick forward button next to media messages.” Indians are said to forward more messages, photos and videos than any other country in the world.

India has expressed dissatisfaction over measures listed by WhatsApp for checking fake news that have in several cases led to mob violence, saying the company cannot escape its responsibility for such rampant abuse and needs to find originators of provocative messages.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp has been under fire from the Indian government over fake news and false information being circulated on its messaging platform. Such messages have incited mob-fury, triggering multiple cases of lynching across the country.

The government had in the past too issued a stern warning to the company to clamp down on hoax messages designed to "provoke" and "instigate" people. In response, WhatsApp introduced a new feature to let its users identify the forwarded messages, and brought out full-page ads giving "easy tips" to spot fake news.

Yesterday, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad informed the Rajya Sabha that he will hold discussion with stakeholders, including political parties, to evolve a policy to deal with the misuse of social media.

Outlining steps it has taken to curb abuse of its platform, WhatsApp -- in its response to the first notice sent by the IT Ministry -- had said that it has the ability to prevent spam but since it cannot see the content of private messages, blocking can be done only based on user reports.

WhatsApp had also told the government that it is "horrified by these terrible acts of violence" and its strategy to deal with the situation involves giving people the controls and information they need to stay safe while working pro-actively to prevent misuse of the service.

Rumours on WhatsApp have sparked off a spate of incidents involving mob fury, including one where five men were lynched on the suspicion of being child lifters in Maharashtra's Rainpada village of Dhule district. More recently, a man was beaten to death, while three others were injured after a mob attacked them suspecting them to be child-lifters, near Bidar in Karnataka.

The Supreme Court has also asked parliament to consider enacting a new law to effectively deal with incidents of mob lynching, saying "horrendous acts of mobocracy" cannot be allowed to become a new norm.