WhatsApp has been the main means of communication with fake and current messages. The parent company, Facebook, is now further restricting message forwarding to reduce the spread of false news around COVID-19.
We recently reported on the burning of the 5G network antenna in the UK as a result of the spread of conspiracy theories related to the coronavirus.
In the past few weeks, several false news with dangerous health tips about the coronavirus have been spread on the platform. After mass lynching based on fake news was committed in India in 2018, Facebook took initial action, restricted mass forwarding and tagged forwarded messages.
This allows message recipients to see that the message in question did not come from direct contact – possibly not reliable.
Data speeds have also been accelerated
Now, these marked messages can only be forwarded to individual chats, after being forwarded five times. By the end of March, WhatsApp had to adapt the application's functions due to the spread of the coronavirus and the resulting initial restrictions.
In order to reduce the consumption of WhatsApp data in India (where the largest number of users are) and thus relieve the Internet, the app has limited a status-related function, where normally a 30-second clip is shown for 24 hours to contacts, WhatsApp limits the length of the clip to a maximum of 15 seconds. YouTube, Apple and Netflix also limit data rates, as their streaming offerings can no longer be consumed automatically at the highest resolution.
Everyone can do something against the spread of false news. How do you ensure that you are not being scammed online?
(tagsToTranslate) WhatsApp (t) WhatsApp Messenger (t) Facebook
