WhatsApp is putting a global limit of five on the number of times a message can be forwarded an effort to fight the spread of rumors and misinformation on the social network, Reuters reported Monday.

"We're imposing a limit of five messages all over the world as of today," Victoria Grand, vice president for policy and communications at WhatsApp, said Monday at an event in Jakarta, Indonesia. WhatsApp users were previously allowed to forward a message 20 times.

The spread of misinformation has been a persistent problem on Facebook-owned WhatsApp and other social networks. Social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter are still grappling with the revelation that Russia-linked social media troll accounts may have influenced the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election.

WhatsApp, which has more than a billion daily users, introduced the message limit in India in July following a spate of mob violence and lynchings in that country blamed on misinformation spread on the social network. On July 1, five people were reportedly lynched in Dhule, India, after a rumor circulated on the app that they were child abductors. At least 12 people were beaten as a result of similar messages. 

The new limit is rolling out to users on Monday, Reuters reported.

WhatsApp didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.