WhatsApp announced it will now indicate to users which messages have been forwarded to them.
The change was implemented to curb the spread of misinformation and spam on the platform and to help users determine whether a message was actually written by a contact.
In a blog post recently released by the company, announced its adding labels to forwarded messages so users can better identify rumors, fake news, and other false information that often spreads via the messaging app.
“With the update, forwarded messages will have a small “forwarded” label, similar to forwarded email messages, indicating the note was originally written by someone other than the sender.
“It may seem like a minor update, but it’s one the company says could help people identify fake news and other types of misinformation. “WhatsApp cares deeply about your safety. We encourage you to think before sharing messages that were forwarded,” added by the company in a blog post.
The new WhatsApp feature, which is now rolling out for both Android and iOS users around the globe, comes as another move by the Facebook-owned company that can help limit the circulation of spam and fake news on its platform that has over 1.5 billion monthly active users worldwide.
How to get the WhatsApp ‘Forwarded’ feature
Notably, you need to have the latest WhatsApp version on your device to see the ‘Forwarded’ label. The label sits on top of the forwarded message to highlight that it hasn’t been created afresh for you. Furthermore, there isn’t any option to disable the label. This means that users who forward the messages won’t be able to remove the label from their side.
While the feature is indeed help in the cases where a message is being forward using WhatsApp’s native message forwarding functionality, it doesn’t restrict users from copying-pasting the text and forwarding it as a fresh message, ensuring no ‘Forwarded’ label is visible in that case.
To see how the ‘Forwarded’ label appears, you can select and forward one of the messages available within another WhatsApp chat thread. The feature was previously a part of the WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.18.179 that was released last month. To recall, the feature was first spotted in testing According to WABetaInfo. And was disabled by default in January.
The new feature is rolling out now for both Android and iOS users and will be available globally in the next few days.
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