In the wake of fake news and spam messages seeing their way over Facebook owned Whatsapp, the app is said to be testing a new feature to warn its users about sharing spammy messages, that have been shared and shared by very many Whatsapp users in order to curtail their spread. Such messages include the “Please forward this message to 10 or so contacts” for something to happen among others.
This will be achieved through notifications that will be sent to Whatsapp users that have received such messages with a warning reading “Forwarded Very Many Times” Below the sender’s name if the message has been shared frequently or “A message you’re forwarding has been forwarded very many times.” That is if you’re about to forward such spammy messages to your contacts.
Whereas this is in test phases, when it will be implemented is ours to guess. Whatsapp keeps experimenting on many ideas some of which make it to the end user app while others don’t.
Some of these spammy messages ask for users to pay to enjoy non-existent whatsapp features, others urge people to forward them in order to receive miracles, others install malware to peoples phones and others issue false alerts that lead social unrest among others. We recently reported a vulnerability on Whatsapp and spam is one way how they spread.
The app now wants to clean house with this new feature and make the service more appealing nor forgetting safe for its users we suppose. And of course avoid being on opposite sides with authorities given the wake of propelled propaganda shared on social media platforms of which it is part.
Once implemented, it might not forever chase of such messages on the platform but it will surely check on their spread.
Image Credit: Whatsappen.com
