In a bid to minimize fake news on its platform, WhatsApp is now testing a new feature within its Groups Settings to help users stop sending “Frequently Forwarded” messages. The Facebook-owned platform is already working on two features that will help its over 1.5 billion users know how many times a message has been forwarded.
The “Forwarding Info” and “Frequently Forwarded” features are not available yet but WhatsApp is working on these features in its Beta update for Android, said wabetainfo.com that tracks WhatsApp updates. Now, in the “2.19.97 beta update, WhatsApp is testing a new feature in groups that allows to choose to stop sending Frequently Forwarded Messages in the group,” it said.
The option will be available in Group Settings and only administrators can see and edit it. When the feature is enabled, nobody will be able to send a Frequently Forwarded message in the group.
A user can copy the Frequently Forwarded message and send it as a new message but this will slow the process. A message is Frequently Forwarded when it has been forwarded more than four times. Currently, WhatsApp has limited the forwards to a maximum of five in India.