Last week WhatsApp implemented a measure at the global level, through which they started to limit (even more) the amount of times that we can forward a message that has gone viral or that has been shared many times within the platform.
Ironically, this measure has caused is a lot of confusion the respect and some users claim in the social networks that the Government and content checkers such as Damn.it is or Newtral censor the type of information that is forwarded through WhatsApp.
A good example is found in the following tweet published by VOX, in which urge his supporters to switch to Telegrambecause there “you can forward the messages to your friends like you did in WhatsApp before applying the censorship”:
📱🇪🇸 ¡Nuestro canal de Telegram está a punto de llegar a los 30.000 suscriptores!
Si quieres unirte solo tienes que descargarte la aplicación en tu móvil y/o ordenador y suscribirte a nuestro canal a través de este enlace:https://t.co/4yohFYXKxn pic.twitter.com/YHmMUVJ6SH
— voxes (@voxes) April 12, 2020
“Doesn’t like you to WhatsApp”
As we said, the new limit imposed by WhatsApp does not seek to limit the type of information we share on the servicebut avoid the spam and hoaxes can be forwarded in a massive way. That type of content “viral” you can only forward to one person each time, making it more tedious if you want to send it to many people at the same time.
WhatsApp lists forwarded messages in two classes: who has sent you a contact and that have not been forwarded many times (it will appear with an arrow above it) and those who before you don’t receive the email have been forwarded at least five times (they appear with a double arrow, indicating that it “did not create a close contact”).
We recall that WhatsApp is a service of private communication and, since it is encrypted, Facebook could not censor based on content. The be encryption implies that neither Facebook or the verifiers can access any type of content in groups or in private chats. In addition, far from what you are saying some users in social networks, this new limit for forwarding has been imposed in a global way (not just Spain).
Apagón de WhatsApp, por ser cómplice en España 🇪🇸 de la censura y el recorte a la libertad de expresión: no lo uses el sábado 11 de abril, de 20:00 a 22:00 horas. Pásalo! Por la libertad y la democracia!
— J.F.R.Madrid🇪🇸🖤 (@RizitoSpain) April 11, 2020
Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, has contracted to Damn.is and Newtral as verifiersand that might be one of the reasons that it has spread this idea that you are controlling what kind of information (and what not) can be forwarded on the platform.
Both from Maldida.it is as from Newtral have published two press releases in response, in which it defends itself from this campaign, incriminating that they are experiencing in the last few days.
Called attention as an international measure of a messaging platform to avoid spam and hoaxes can be derived in a political struggle in certain territories. Some users are wanting to stop this idea that WhatsApp is controlled by the Government and verifiers (supposedly) like-minded, and that is why we urge you to seek alternatives without censorship.
🚫📱 ¡NO LE GUSTAS A WHATSAPP!
Por eso te animamos a descargarte la aplicación de Telegram, donde encontrarás todo tipo de canales que defienden a España sin censura.
Te puedes unir al canal de VOX a través de este enlace:https://t.co/QBDifsMm71
¡Ya somos más de 14.000! 💪🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/kS7uxC41s3
— VOX Tetuán Madrid (@TetuanVox) April 12, 2020
This can be checked with other tweets that are publishing different accounts of VOX, which begin with the message, “doesn’t like you to WhatsApp”. At the time of this article’s publishing channel Telegram (which appears linked in the tweets) already exceeds 38,000 users.
–
The news
No one can censor the content of WhatsApp: this is the role of verifiers as Newtral or Damn
it was originally published in
Engadget
by
Santi Araujo
.
