Popular messaging platform WhatsApp says that it has witnessed a massive drop of 70 percent in "highly forwarded" messages on the app in a bid to curb misinformation on the platform.

Just earlier this month, WhatsApp rolled out a new feature to limit the number of forwards to only one contact at a time. Starting April 7, messages that got identified as “highly forwarded” or were sent through a chain of five or more people, could be forwarded only to a single person. The idea behind this move was to reduce the spread of misinformation amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“WhatsApp is committed to doing our part to tackle viral messages. We recently introduced a limit to sharing “highly forwarded messages” to just one chat. Since putting into place this new limit, globally there has been a 70 percent reduction in the number of highly forwarded messages sent on WhatsApp. This change is helping keep WhatsApp a place for personal and private conversations”, a WhatsApp spokesperson said.

WhatsApp had first introduced forward limits on the platform in July 2018, after rumours and messages on the platform led to a spate of mob lynching across the country. Hence, the platform took a number of steps within the product to help address the challenge of misinformation and included new labels that identify to users when they have received a forward message or a highly forwarded message.

That limit change reduced the total number of forwarded messages on WhatsApp by 25 percent. WhatsApp also launched group permissions to empower users to decide which groups they would like to be part of.