WhatsApp forwards with fake news dropped down by 70%

WhatsApp rolled out a new feature to limit forwards to only one contact at a time. The idea was to reduce the spread of fake news spread on the app amidst the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

After announcing the feature, the company says this move has already had a positive impact on its service, in just two weeks.

In a statement, WhatsApp said it saw a decrease of 70 percent in the number of highly forwarded messages.

WhatsApp considers any message forwarded more than five times as a highly forwarded message.

Earlier in 2018, WhatsApp first introduced a limit on the number of people you can send that message to in one go.

In India, the limit was five people at a time at the launch, which was rolled out worldwide later.

The company said this change brought down forwards by 25% at that time.