WhatsApp on Wednesday said users can no longer be added to groups without their consent. With elections coming in, social media platforms are being used extensively for political campaigns.
“As people turn to groups for important conversations, users have asked for more control over their experience,” the company said in a statement.
The Facebook-owned messaging platform now has an invite feature that is sent by the group admin to the user who can then decide whether to accept it or not.
Earlier, users could be added to groups without their consent.
How To Enable:
Users can go to Settings and select who can add them to groups from “nobody,” “my contacts,” or “everyone.” If “nobody” is selected, users will get the power to accept joining a group.
The invites stay active for three days before it expires.
WhatsApp has been under pressure from the Indian government to regulate fake news and rumours on the platform, which has led to mob-lynchings and hate-attacks in the country. The company has been rolling out massive ad campaigns educating users on how to detect fake news.
