dd() is a function exported by Data::Dump. Since %hash as argument to dd would be expanded into a flat list, a reference to %hash is passed to dd. That's what the backslash does, it is the reference operator. See perlref.
The next lines are sample output produced by dd.
In reply to Re^5: Copying files from one file to another file
by shmem
in thread Copying files from one file to another file
by harishnv
| For: | Use: | ||
| & | & | ||
| < | < | ||
| > | > | ||
| [ | [ | ||
| ] | ] |