WhatsApp rolls out new feature to tackle fake messages in Pakistan ahead of 2018 polls

LAHORE – Facebook-owned social messaging service WhatsApp has introduced a new feature allowing the recipients to see if a message is original or forwarded.

The “forwarded” label will apply to all text, image, audio, and video messages forwarded to users.

WhatsApp has also launched a new group setting for group chat admins, which can be enabled by opening Group Settings and enabling the “Only Admins” setting under “Send Messages”.

Millions of people use WhatsApp in Pakistan, where rumours, false information and conspiracy theories are ubiquitous. Such messages spread quickly, with no real way for recipients to check their veracity.

The new feature has been introduced only a week before the South Asian nation is set to exercise their voting right.

Previously, the company had introduced this feature in India in which forwarded messages via WhatsApp accused some people of being child kidnappers resulted in violent attacks on them and 30 people were murdered in these attacks.

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