WhatsApp is coming out with a new feature that lets you check if an image is real. In this way, it wants to make fake news more recognizable.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish real from fake. That’s partly due to AI and better software. All kinds of tools make it easier than ever to create a fake image or video. These are then also easily shared again via WhatsApp.
WhatsApp wants fake images to be easier to recognize. It is now working on a feature to search shared images on the Web. This will make it easier to find out if an image is real, or if it has already been shared somewhere else on the Internet.
WhatsApp lets you check images
The new option shows up in a beta version of WhatsApp. It is located in the overflow menu when you view an image. This makes it immediately easy and directly accessible. In the menu, it can be found by clicking on the menu with the three dots.
This starts a reverse search. Instead of searching the Internet for an image, you now search for the location where it came from. Figuring out the source makes it easier to discover if an image has been manipulated, for example, or comes from an unreliable source. The image search is done with Google. Thus, WhatsApp does not process the image itself.
New feature. (Image: WABetaInfo)
More transparency
As a result, WhatsApp is bringing more control and transparency to conversations. At least, if that’s what you want. You can use the feature, but the app is not going to automatically tell you if a photo is fake or manipulated.
As mentioned, the feature is now in beta testing. That means the app is testing it among a select group of users to see if it’s a useful addition and to make sure there are no bugs in it. Once those are all fixed, WhatsApp may choose to bring the feature to the final version. In what time frame that will be is still unknown.
One feature that did just come out is list creation. You can read more about that below.
