WhatsApp releases a new update with a tool to combat fake news and scams. Here's how it works
WhatsApp is "teaming up" with Google to protect users from the fake messages that are shared and forwarded on the messaging platform every day. As discovered by the guys at WaBetaInfo, in the new version 2.20.94 of WhatsApp beta for Android appeared the first information about a new tool that helps users discover fake news. What is it about?
When receiving a message that has been forwarded many times, WhatsApp allows users to do an immediate search on Google's search engine. A magnifying glass appears next to the message to check on Google whether it is fake news or real news. For more than a year now, WhatsApp has started a real fight against fake messages and scams that every day are born and thrive on the platform. The first actions concerned forwarded messages, the vector used by users to make fake news go viral. The goal of this new tool is to offer the possibility for users to verify any "strange" message they receive. Here's how it works.
WhatsApp, how "Search Messages On The Web"
The name of the new feature is tentative and is a simple translation of its name in English: "Search Messages On the Web". What is the purpose of this new tool? To protect users from fake news. As we have told you over and over again, WhatsApp is one of the favorite platforms for hackers and scammers to relay fake messages and to make fake news go viral. It's now more than a year that WhatsApp is working on new tools that allow users to immediately recognize fake news: blocking compulsive forwarding of messages and reporting the most frequently forwarded messages.
All these tools, however, seem not to be enough. For this reason, developers have fielded a new "weapon": search engines. On the 2.20.94 beta version of WhatsApp for Android a new tool has been noticed: a magnifying glass that appears next to the received forwarded messages. Clicking on the icon brings up a message asking the user if they want to search for the meaning of the text on Google. Clicking on "Search the Web" will open a Google page with all the search results related to the received message. In this way you will be able to understand if it is fake or real news.
When will the new WhatsApp update be available
The feature still hasn't made its debut on the beta version, but for the moment it has only been discovered in the WhatsApp code by the guys at WaBetaInfo. Making a prediction about the release date is very complicated: WhatsApp is working to release a package of new tools to fight fake news and most likely "Search for messages on the Web" will be part of it.