WHATSAPP HAS A NEW FEATURE AND IT MIGHT BE GOOD OR BAD

The reason behind the latest update on WhatsApp is that the company plans to battle the misinformation that is spread through their app. So how do they plan on doing it you might ask?

Well, WhatsApp will now start labelling its forwarded messages, in a move that the company hopes will curb some of the app's viral misinformation problems. WhatsApp has announced the new label, which will indicate when a message has been forwarded to someone from another user. The new 'forwarded label' will apply to text, images, video and audio messages, according to Poynter.

"This extra context will help make one-on-one and group chats easier to follow," the blog reads. "It also helps you determine if your friend or relative wrote the message they sent or if it originally came from someone else."

Prior to launching the feature worldwide, WhatsApp had beta tested these forwarded messages in India as well as Brazil. More than 300 million citizens use the app between the two countries, and in both, the platform has been linked to enabling the spread of dangerous viral rumours.

This update is the latest step that WhatsApp has taken to address its fake news problem, including offering cash rewards for researchers that studies misinformation spread through the app and wrangling local law enforcement and fact-checking organisation to fight the fake news propagated through the app.