Using 'Search The Web', WhatsApp Users Can Quickly Fact-Check Forwarded Messages

WhatsApp - Search the web feature on Android

It has for quite a long time that WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world.

Free to use, straightforward, secured with end-to-end encryption and cross-platform, WhatsApp has certainly appeal many users wherever they are. But its popularity has one big drawback.

And that is WhatsApp is making itself a breeding ground for a lot of fake information and hoaxes.

Back in 2018, WhatsApp started putting labels on forwarded messages, to then added the two arrows to show that a message has been repeatedly forwarded.

In 2019, the popular messaging app then started limiting the number of people users can forward a single message to just five. And earlier this 2020, these messages can only be forwarded to one chat at a time.

Those efforts have indeed reduced the number of hoaxes that spread through the platform.

And if those aren't enough, WhatsApp took them one step further.

WhatsApp has been testing features to let users perform reverse search images and text of the message to control misinformation.

This time, the popular messaging app is rolling out the feature to let users search a message on the web to check whether the message they receive has been frequently forwarded and whether it has the correct information or not .

The feature comes in the form of a magnifying glass that shows up next to frequently forwarded messages.

Tapping on the icon will launch 'Search Web' that will let users search the web.

What should be noted here is that, WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted, meaning that even WhatsApp can't read the messages.

What this means, using the 'Search Web' feature simply makes WhatsApp to upload the chosen message via the users default browser, without WhatsApp reading itself reading the contents.

As a result of this, users may have to go through multiple links on the web to determine if said message is misinformative or not.

Alternatively, users can check the content of the message with one of their local fact-checking organizations.

WhatsApp - Search the web
Credit: WhatsApp

During certain times, like this 'COVID-19' coronavirus pandemic that is plaguing the worl, fake information spread easily and can go viral in no time.

WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, but that also means that a lot of misinformation and rumors are constantly shared on the platform.

With the many users capable of spreading misinformation, disinformation or malinformation, intentionally or not, WhatsApp has a difficult task of separating the fact from fiction. Since it has no rights and the credibility to judge a message as legit or fake, WhatsApp cannot label information as being true or false directly.

This is why the company is giving the power back to its users, and let them decide by themselves.

With the feature, WhatsApp simply allows users to quickly do an online search, right from inside its app.

Search the web functionality works on WhatsApp on Android and iOS, as well as the web client.

Initially, this feature is made available for WhatsApp users in Brazil, Italy, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, UK, and the U.S..

Published: 
05/08/2020