The world's most widely used messaging service is said to be
developing a moderation feature that is supported on rival messaging service
Telegram, which similarly allows admins to remove messages by group members.
WhatsApp is yet to announce details of such feature, which
is expected to arrive in upcoming beta versions of WhatsApp for Android and
iOS.
According to a screenshot shared by WhatsApp feature tracker
WABetaInfo, the Meta-owned messaging service is working on a feature to allow
group admins to delete messages from any group member. The screenshot shows a
deleted message in a WhatsApp chat, with a placeholder message that states
“This was deleted by an admin, WABetaInfo” to inform group members that a
message was removed. WhatsApp rival Telegram also allows group admins to delete
messages from any user — but does not display a placeholder message.
If you are a group admin, you will be able to delete any message for everyone in your groups, in a future update of WhatsApp beta for Android.
— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) January 26, 2022
A good moderation, finally. #WhatsApp pic.twitter.com/Gxw1AANg7M
The upcoming ability to delete all messages could serve as a
powerful moderation tool in WhatsApp groups, especially to curb instances of
fake news or harmful content on the messaging service.
The Bombay High Court and the Madras High Court have
previously held that WhatsApp group admins were not liable for objectionable
content posted to a group.
Last year, the Bombay High Court noted that group admins had
only limited powers of adding or deleting members to the group and does not
have the power to regulate or censor the content posted in the group.
At the moment, there is no word on whether group admins will
be able to delete older messages in a group. Users can currently delete their
own messages in chats or groups within 4,096 seconds — one hour, eight minutes
and 16 seconds.
However, WhatsApp might expand the limits to delete messages
in a group for admins, allowing them to tackle older messages posted by users
in a group.
As previously mentioned, WhatsApp is yet to officially
reveal plans to add such a feature to the messaging app.
0 comments:
Post a Comment