WhatsApp rolls out its message forwarding limit worldwide

WhatsApp is rolling out its revised forwarding limit worldwide in an effort to curb the spread of false information.

The feature was released in India last year, and limits users to five forwarding shares.

This means that when you receive one of those “kidnappers are in your area” chain messages, you will only be able to spread the fake news to five other contacts.

“Starting today, all users on the latest versions of WhatsApp can now forward to only five chats at once, which will help keep WhatsApp focused on private messaging with close contacts,” WhatsApp said in an updated blog post.

The feature comes after many people were found to be using the service to orchestrate violent protests, spread fake news and incite fear in communities around the world.

According to Reuters, the feature will begin rolling to Android first, followed by iOS.

Feature image: WhatsApp