WhatsApp is the most popular messaging platform, but it is also the primary source of fake news and spam messages. WhatsApp knows this and the company is testing a way to avoid this.
WhatsApp is now testing a notification message in the app that will appear when a user is about to forward a spam message. It will display a notice that the message “has been forwarded many times”.
A spammer never sends a message one by one. He will possibly select all the contacts and forward a message. For now, users can select up to 30 messages and can forward a single message 25 times without seeing this alter. After they have forwarded a message 250 times, they will see this alert.
WhatsApp recommends the use the Broadcast List feature where only contacts that have your phone number in their address book will receive the message.
If a message has been forwarded many times, you can notice a label on the bubble. After you see this notification, you will realize that you are also being the part of a chain message and it could be a spam.
Fake rumors on WhatsApp travel fast and some have been linked to far more serious consequences. A few months back, a fake WhatsApp message triggered mob attacks and resulted in deaths and injuries. We usually receive fake political and religious messages that we should ignore.
For now, the company is just showing this notification and not blocking message sending. So, it will not actually stop a spammer. But, we can expect few more changes in coming months.
I always recommend users to report spam a message if they receive any. It will help WhatsApp to keep the message platform clean.
