It finally appears as though Facebook is taking the concept of “fake news” seriously, and this will affect Whatsapp, as users will soon be limited in the amount of users they can forward messages to.
Importance In India
There is almost no way to overstate the importance of the app in India, where the app is literally considered quite influential in elections, considering that the subcontinent boasts 250 million Whatsapp users, where information can be disseminated quickly and efficiently, thanks to cheap mobile data. As a result, if one were to want to spread a “fake news” campaign against a certain candidate, it can be done quite quickly. In fact, a top political strategist in the region, Ankit Lal, summarized its importance in this manner: “We wrestle on Twitter. The battle is on Facebook. The war is on Whatsapp.”
Limit Details
After the app made international headlines in India in association with a series of murders, the app limited users in the subcontinent to only be allowed to forward a message to five recipients, while allowing worldwide users to forward messages to twenty recipients. Now, users worldwide will be limited to five recipients. Many critics argue that the fact that users can forward a message to that many people has been integral to spreading incendiary messages that could result in violence.
