You can choose not to be added to WhatsApp group

NEW DELHI: You can now choose not to be added to a WhatsApp group. The

instant messaging

app on Wednesday launched a new feature which allows users to choose the groups they want to be part of by customising their privacy settings. India has 200 million WhatsApp users. “With these new features, users will have more control over the group messages they receive,” WhatsApp said in a statement.


The setting will start rolling out to users in phases, it added. The move, coming a week before the beginning of the

Lok Sabha

polls, assumes significance as social media platforms, including WhatsApp, are used to reach out to citizens in large numbers. The new feature enables a user to decide who can add them to a group by choosing one of three options available in his/her account’s privacy settings — “nobody”, “my contacts” or “everyone”.

Earlier, WhatsApp allowed users to be added to groups without their consent and the only way to stop being a part of the said group was to “exit” it. If users choose “nobody” in the privacy setting option, anyone inviting them to a group will have to send them an invitation link through private chat asking for their approval.

The link will expire in 72 hours, and a fresh approval request can be made after that. “As people turn to groups for important conversations, users have asked for more control over their experience,” the Facebook-owned company said. A WhatsApp spokesperson told TOI that the initiative is meant to ensure that the app remains a private messaging platform which is used by people who know each other instead of being a mass broadcast platform.