There had been times when the WhatsApp users have probably received the nasty messages about some obnoxious events like an embarrassing acquaintance or a hated colleague and have forwarded even without thinking properly.
This can have some serious consequences as the information being spread by the most popular messaging app can be based on completely irrational grounds which can even lead to actual deaths rather than bearing the burden of the social shame.
In India, approximately 40% of the people have been killed by the mobs on accounts of false rumors about various events like the child abduction or the organ harvesting which were spread through WhatsApp.
Two young men in Mexico were even burnt alive due to the repercussions of some false news circulated over the message app.
This has led to asking serious questions about the accountability of this messaging app by some professional representatives including IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. He had asked to find out ways and trace the roots of these obnoxious messages.
WhatsApp had mentioned about their attempt to limit these profound actions by some people by preventing the users from sending messages to more than five people or groups and by removing the quick forward button placed to the messages.
This feature was reported to be rolled out only in India but it is coming closer for the rest of the world.
This ensures the inability to send the message to more than five people and prior to the update the users could forward these posts to 20 of their contracts which had ensured to limit the spread of the rumors at a massive scale.