WhatsApp launches new tool to help users spot fake news

[silversurfer]

WhatsApp has launched a new tool called ‘Search the web’ that allows users that have been sent links to quickly find information about them from the web. In an example, WhatsApp showed a link someone had been sent that claimed that drinking boiled garlic water would cure COVID-19. The recipient can now press the magnifying glass button to search for information about the link. In the example, the user is shown web results from fact-checking websites that prove the claim is false.
 
The new feature is part of a wider drive by WhatsApp to curb fake news from spreading on its platform. In a previous update, double arrows were added to let users know that messages have not originated from a close contact – these let users know they’re perpetuating chain messages that could be fake.

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