Fighting spam: WhatsApp wants to regulate broadcast messages more strictly
WhatsApp wants to restrict the broadcast function, which allows users to reach many contacts at once. This is to protect against spam.
Fighting spam: WhatsApp wants to regulate the number of broadcast messages more strictly.
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WhatsApp has announced that it will restrict the broadcast function, which allows users to reach many contacts at once. The company confirmed this to Techcrunch after the blog WABetaInfo discovered a new feature in the Android beta version of WhatsApp.
The chat platform wants to significantly limit the sending of broadcast messages in order to ensure greater transparency in the number of messages sent and to reduce spam. This restriction is aimed at both individual users and companies.
In the coming weeks, the company plans to start testing limits for individual broadcast messages. The function is already integrated in beta version 2.25.10.8 for Android.
According to WhatsApp, there will be "sliding limits" in the test phase. In the current beta, for example, 30 broadcasts per month are permitted. In the app, users can see how many broadcast messages they have already sent.
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Status updates instead of broadcasts
If individual users are in greater need of communication than the new broadcast limit allows, they could use status updates or channels to reach a large number of people. These types of messaging tend to be less intrusive.
WhatsApp also provides additional rules and options for corporate accounts. For example, Meta is testing new custom broadcast messages for product updates or holiday sales.
In addition, messages sent from business accounts can be pre-scheduled in future. During a pilot phase, retailers will be able to send 250 individual messages free of charge, after which they will have to pay for further messages. The company has not yet officially determined how much these messages will cost.
The broadcast limit is just one of numerous steps to curb spam on WhatsApp. WhatsApp had previously limited the number of marketing messages that users can receive per day. Last year, the company experimented with an "unsubscribe" function that allows users to signal that they do not wish to receive certain types of messages from a company without blocking their account.
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