Caller identification app Truecaller has thrown its hat into the ring of instant messaging currently dominated by Facebook with its Whatsapp and Messenger apps.
The platform dubbed Truecaller Chat is aimed at making communication safer to prevent fake news from circulating. The IM platform will allow users to report links, ensuring that fake news is not circulated unchecked by users.
“As a one-stop communication platform, our IM service will help our users connect and also collaborate to combat the issue of spam. We’re confident that this foundation stone will help build a strong spam-free community,” Said Zakaria Hersi, Truecaller director of partnerships, sub Saharan Africa.
As a step to curb the spread of erroneous information, Truecaller said it has launched, with help from its community, the IM service as a shield against viral messages sent on its instant messaging platform.
Users will be able to mark website links as spam if they suspect it to have incorrect information, which will then help chatters make a more informed decision about what information is false. With time, Truecaller also plans to apply machine learning and use the aggregated spam reports to predict any upcoming viral trends.
Swedish caller ID firm Truecaller set up its first Africa office and headquarters for the region in Kenya earlier this year.
The software application, popular with helping identify unknown phone numbers, has garnered six million users in the country by February
Last year, the app released statistics indicating that Truecaller is blocking and filtering out more than 4.4 million calls and 14 million spam SMS's on a monthly basis in the country.
Of the calls, 91 per cent were flagged as scams, 4 per cent as nuisance and five per cent were from financial services.
In Africa, Truecaller has an estimated 50 million users with Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa being named as key markets.
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