WhatsApp is working on a feature that you will love, especially if you receive hundreds of messages in groups every day, filled with all kinds of news and questionable images. To combat fake news and hoaxes, the company is developing a type of photo verifier.
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Why is this important? The goal is to help you check whether an image you receive is real, provide more context about it, and determine if it has been altered or created with AI. This tool is not only exciting news, but it is also a much-needed feature. As WhatsApp has become one of the most important sources of information in recent years, an image verifier is something that was definitely needed.
Using it won’t be as simple as just receiving an image and having WhatsApp mark it as fake; verifying it will involve an extra step. It’s not complicated, but you need to understand how it works for it to be useful. Otherwise, many users may not even notice the new tool.
Here’s how the WhatsApp image verifier works:
Thanks to WABetaInfo, we can learn how the new image checker will work. It’s not as straightforward as it seems, and it doesn’t operate automatically for one main reason: your privacy. To verify the origin of a photo and provide more context, WhatsApp needs to upload it to its servers, which its terms do not allow without your consent. This is why there’s an extra step in the process.
Now, based on the leaked screenshots, the function is very simple. You just need to open a received image, click on the three-dot menu, and select “Search on web.” WhatsApp will then use Google to compare the image with its database and provide information about it.
The goal is to give you more information about the image, whether it’s altered, edited, or simply an AI creation that doesn’t reflect reality. It should work with all types of images, but the tool is mainly designed for photos that are shared widely and go viral.
When this feature is active on WhatsApp, you’ll be able to check if that questionable image your brother-in-law sent you is real or just a fake meant to mislead you. When will it be available? Right now, it’s in the beta phase, but it’s expected to arrive in the stable app for everyone in the next few weeks.
