WhatsApp illustration - Patrick Sison / AP / SIPA

WhatsApp announced on Tuesday on its blog the end of the function allowing to relay a message received from a third party to several recipients at the same time. This content differentiated from the others by a double arrow is now only transferable to one conversation at a time. "In this period of crisis" of the coronavirus, the email managers explain reacting to "a significant increase in transfers, which the users find too numerous, and which can contribute to the propagation of false information".

"We think it is important to slow down the dissemination of these messages so that WhatsApp remains a personal conversation application," writes the company.

The content of messages that cannot be monitored

The social network stresses that securing exchanges which protect users' privacy makes it impossible to monitor the content of messages. This situation had already pushed WhatsApp to set up "limits on the messages transferred to contain virality, which had then reduced message transfers worldwide by 25%".

In the press release, the leaders of the messaging note however "that many users transfer useful information, as well as funny videos, memes, reflections or prayers that are important to them". The app is also used “to organize public events in support of healthcare professionals on the front line. (…) People converse with doctors, teachers and their isolated relatives thanks to WhatsApp ”.

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  • Fake news
  • Covid 19
  • High-Tech
  • Coronavirus
  • WhatsApp