WhatsApp may soon extend the limits it had set on how many times a message can be forwarded. The messaging app was spotted testing a feature that could restrict the forwarding of messages to only one group chat at a time, according to a WhatsApp Beta news platform.
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What to expect
Not long ago, WhatsApp introduced a feature that made it possible for users to forward messages to one chat at a time. This was in response to the spread of fake news, especially at the peak of the COVID pandemic two years ago.
It was around the same time that a label was attached to messages that had been forwarded multiple times to warn users of the possibility of it being viral and potentially misleading.
According to a WhatsApp Beta news platform, WABetaInfo, the Meta subsidiary may be considering limiting the forwarding of messages to just one group chat at a time. In a report, WABetaInfo said:
When a message is marked as forwarded, it’s no longer possible to forward it to more than one group chat at a time. If you need to forward this message to more than one group chat, you need to select the message and forward it again.
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Extended restrictions
What this means is that, once a message has a ‘forwarded many times’ label on it, you will no longer be able to forward it to more than one group chat at the same time. You would have to select the message and forward it again.
The previous feature did not extend this restriction to group chats. At the time, WhatsApp explained its rationale as:
Last year we introduced users to the concept of messages that have been forwarded many times.These messages are labelled with double arrows to indicate they did not originate from close contact. In effect, these messages are less personal compared to typical messages sent on WhatsApp. We are now introducing a limit so that these messages can only be forwarded to one chat at a time.
The new feature is being tested and would be available to all users in a matter of days, according to WABetaInfo.
