Misinformation is a serious disease that affects one too many people in the world. Many social media platforms are affected by this and they are trying to curb this issue. Now it looks like WhatsApp is rolling out a reverse search function. Just like Googles reverse image search, you will be able to search a message on the web to check if it has correct information or not.

Whatsapp Reverse Search Feature

Currently, WhatsApp considers messages that have been forwarded more than five times in a chain as frequently forwarded messages. Thus the need for a fact-checker.

Soon, you’ll see a magnifying glass next to frequently forwarded messages. You can tap on that icon to launch a search on the web to see if it’s some kind of myth that’s doing the rounds.

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It will work as seen in the image below:

Due to WhatsApp‘s end-to-end encryption, the company can’t read your messages. So, you might have to go through multiple links on the web to determine if the said message is misinformative or not.

In 2019, WABetainfo noted that WhatsApp would include a reverse image search tool. The chat app would use Google APIs to compare the selected image with similar pictures. After this, it will show the results in a browser. We may soon see this feature in the app as well.

Currently, the feature is available for users in Brazil, Italy, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, UK, and the US for all versions of WhatsApp. It will be rolling out to other users around the world too.