21 January 2019 05:31 pm
“We’re imposing a limit of five messages all over the world as of today,” Vice President for policy and communications at WhatsApp, Victoria Grand said in Jakarta.
Previously, a WhatsApp user could forward a message to 20 individuals or groups.
The five-recipient limit expands globally a measure WhatsApp put into place in India in July after the spread of rumors on social media led to killings and lynching attempts.
The app’s end-to-end encryption allows groups of hundreds of users to exchange texts, photos and video beyond the purview of independent fact checkers or even the platform itself.
WhatsApp will roll out an update to activate the new forward limit, starting Monday, WhatsApp’s head of communications Carl Woog has told Reuters.
Android users will receive the update first, followed by users of Apple’s iOS.