MUMBAI: In a recent development, WhatsApp has launched a new feature which shows ‘suspicious link’ label on the message to crack down on false information being spread through its platform.

According to the company, the check would be performed automatically on a user’s device and reiterated that WhatsApp cannot see contents of the message because of its end-to-end encryption technology. (Read WhatsApp’s statement here

If a link is marked suspicious, a user can tap the link and a pop-up message will appear highlighting the unusual characters within the link. The user can choose to open the link or go back to the chat.

Take for instance the URL

The first character looks like the letter “w” but is instead the character “w”, a ploy that might be used by spammers to trick a user to visit a website that wasn’t actually related to WhatsApp.

A spokesperson for the company told BOOM that the feature should not be confused with finding fake domains.

Earlier this month, it announced that it was limiting the number of contacts a message could be forwarded to five at a time.

This year nearly 24 people were killed in India in separate incidents fuelled by fake messages of child abductors. Last week, New Delhi wrote a second warning letter that it might face legal action if it failed to take effective steps to curb the flow of false information on its platform.

“When rumours and fake news get propagated by mischief mongers, the medium used for such propagation cannot evade responsibility and accountability. If they remain mute spectators they are liable to be treated as abettors and thereafter face consequent legal action,” the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had said in the letter.