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WhatsApp has announced a change to its "highly forwarded" message forwarding system that will only allow you to re-send a group or conversation at a time. The firm wants to combat the hoaxes on health and the coronavirus.

These messages have long appeared with a double arrow that indicates that their origin is not a close contact.

Thus, whoever wants to forward messages to several groups will have to do it manually and can only choose one at a time. In all these cases, the double arrow will appear, but the fact that it is sent to a conversation does not mean that this cannot be done with another.

"We know that many users forward useful information, as well as funny videos, memes and reflections that they consider significant," the company said in a statement. However, they have seen "a significant increase in the number of forwardings that users find can be overwhelming and can help spread disinformation."

It is not the first time that the application has done something similar: previously, limits were placed on forwarded messages to reduce their virality, something that, according to their data, "led to a 25% decrease in message forwarding worldwide in that moment". "We believe that it is important to decrease the transmission of these messages to maintain WhatsApp as a space for personal conversation," explains the firm.

The company also recalled that it works with various organizations (including the WHO) and governments ("more than 20 health ministries," they say) "to help connect people with accurate information." Like many technology companies, it has created a coronavirus information center.

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