To Prevent Hoaxes During Elections, Brazil Asks WhatsApp To Postpone New Features Until Next Year

WhatsApp (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The federal public prosecutor in Brazil asked WhatsApp to delay the launch of the new feature until January next year. The request was made to prevent the spread of hoaxes during the general election.

The feature requested to be postponed is Communities, or Communities because they are considered to be able to spread hoaxes about elections in Brazil and damage the stability of the country, quoted by Reuters.

Federal prosecutors, known as MPF, are also concerned that the Community feature could interfere with WhatsApp's efforts to tackle hoaxes.

MPF's concern is based on the wider reach of the Community, the group's members have increased from 256 to 512. MPF believes that this feature will increase the possibility of content going viral.

WhatsApp agreed in April to delay the rollout of this feature, after the second round of elections in Brazil in October. However, MPF assessed that the delay was not enough to solve the hoax problem two months before the turn of the year.

WhatsApp is a popular application in Brazil, according to MPF installed on 99 percent of mobile phones in the country.

A WhatsApp spokesperson said they will continue to evaluate when is the best time to roll out the feature and will respond to requests from authorities.