Facebook-owned chat app ‘WhatsApp’, has come up with a new feature to tackle misinformation on its service. The chat app is internally testing an option that would let a user confirm the legitimacy of images they received on WhatsApp by confirming if they had been on the web. The feature relies on Google’s reverse image search function to allow WhatsApp users upload an image and find where on the web it has appeared.
This feature will protect all messages and media on WhatsApp platform with an end-to-end encryption. This will curtail WhatsApp’s ability to scan the content of messages and media on its platform. This feature will potentially help many users quickly verify facts and get more context about the image they have received in large markets like India.
See also: WhatsApp Bans 2 Million Fake Accounts Per Month
This is in line with WhatsApp’s recent consciousness safeguarding information on the platform. The company has imposed a limit on the number of messages WhatsApp users can forward- in regard to this, a forwarded tag appears on messages when received. They also ran various educational campaigns to urge tens of millions of first-time users to be more cautious about the messages they share with their friends and family. As of last month, WhatsApp banned 2 million fake or abusive accounts. WhatsApp is also working on expanding WhatsApp Pay, its payment service.