How to use the ‘Search the web’ feature on WhatsApp

WhatsApp has presently added a new feature to assist you with exposing such popular or frequently forwarded messages to stop the spread of fake news and misinformation on its platform.

WhatsApp is one of the most popular social messaging apps in the world In a previous version of WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned organization had set a limit on the number of times a single forwarded message could be shared at one go. The two arrows above a message help individuals realize when they’ve got a message that was not composed by close contact.

The organization had declared a new feature to stem the flow of misinformation around coronavirus. A client will presently have the option to forward messages to just each chat in turn. The limit will kick in once a message has been forwarded on the platform five times, after which, a message can be forwarded to it is possible that each WhatsApp group or a person in turn.

Presently, with the ‘Search the web’ feature’s turn out, WhatsApp will let clients check the authenticity of the forwarded message to abstain from being badly educated, the organization declared in a blog post.

How to use the ‘Search the web’ feature on WhatsApp

A magnifying glass icon will begin showing up next to messages that have been forwarded through a chain of at least five individuals. Tapping it searches for the message’s contents online, with the thought being this ought to uncover any basic conspiracy theories or misinformation the message contains.

“(We are) Providing a simple way to search messages that have been forwarded many times may help people find news results or other sources of information about the content they have received,” the company said in a statement.

This feature works by permitting clients to upload the message through their browser without WhatsApp ever observing the message itself.

In a screenshot of the feature (appeared above) released by WhatsApp, the organization utilizes the case of a viral message which asserts that “drinking freshly boiled garlic water will cure COVID-19.” A web search raises three reality checking websites, which flag this case as bogus.

Search the web is being turned out beginning today in Brazil, Italy, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, UK, and the US for those on the most recent versions of WhatsApp for Android, iOS, and WhatsApp Web, the organization expressed.