Group admins in WhatsApp to get more control

By Nilanjan Dey

WhatsApp is the most popular messaging platform that almost everyone uses. It is also subject to various misinformation campaigns without any strong supervision or fact-checking features. Recently, the messaging app has gotten an update providing a new feature according to Wabetainfo.com.

The feature that everyone is talking about is the admin’s ability to remove/delete messages from a WhatsApp group. The feature will be rolled out to some beta testers with the idea that this will help admins moderate the groups better.

How to know whether you to have received this feature?

To verify whether a user has the feature enabled in his/her WhatsApp, the user must first determine whether he is a group admin. If the user sees the option to delete all incoming messages, it means that the feature is enabled for them.

However, it is to be noted that when an admin deletes a message the chat bubble shows to all participants of the group that the message was deleted by an admin.

The feature was first observed in 2021 but was not fully developed and was under production.

How can it help manage WhatsApp group?

Admins will have more control over the groups with this feature especially when it comes to misinformation. WhatsApp has made it a priority when it comes to tackle fake news and misinformation. The messaging platform has collaborated with various fact-checking organizations since 2018. The feature makes admins more responsible for any kind of information being shared and to be more proactive when any kind of fake news or misinformation is being disseminated the group. This feature actively gives power to the group admins who will have the onus of removing inappropriate messages.