WhatsApp is going to label forwarded messages

WhatsApp will explicitly mark messages that are forwarded via the instant messaging service as such. The measure should help prevent misunderstandings with fake information, which have led to lynchings in India.

According to WhatsApp, the extra context with forwarded messages should make it easier to follow one-on-one and group chats. “It also helps you determine whether your friend or acquaintance wrote the message or whether it originally came from someone else,” WhatsApp writes. The service asks users to consider sharing forwarded messages for security reasons and points out that users can report spam and block contacts.

WhatsApp already announced in recent weeks that forward labeling was under development, in response to urging the Indian government to come up with measures against fake news. There have been several incidents in India in which people became victims of lynchings, after false rumors about, for example, child molesters were spread via WhatsApp.

The Indian Ministry of Electronics and IT called on WhatsApp not to evade its responsibility and to prevent the spread of fake messages and sensational news. WhatsApp promised to take measures and also started a campaign with newspaper ads which called for ‘questioning messages that make you angry’.