Warning: This message is freezing WhatsApp across the world

A Telugu script message is going viral on the messaging platform WhatsApp and it is reported to have been crashing WhatsApp.

According to reports, the message consists of a “Telugu” text bomb. If you click on this bomb it will crash your WhatsApp app on both Android and iOS. This message is usually sent as a forward message surfacing around WhatsApp which claimed to hang the app for some time. TechJuice received such a message as well and as you can see in the image below the message reads, “If you touch the black point then your WhatsApp will hang.”

The message consists of a black icon, clicking on that black icon will cause your WhatsApp to freeze or make it unresponsive. This is not a hoax as many WhatsApp users experienced WhatsApp crash after tapping on the black icon.

WhatsApp application is freezing but the black dot is not the actual culprit here, there is a small hidden trick in this message. The app is freezing because of the blank space between the text and the black dot, as you can see in the screenshot above.

Converting the message into HTML format reveals that the text consists of RLM (right-to-left mark). This is an invisible formatting character which is used to distinguish between left-to-right mark (LRM) and right-to-left mark (RLM). WhatsApp doesn’t use RLM, it uses LRM hence the use of wrong directional formatting character is making WhatsApp change the direction, which ultimately leads the app to crash.