A message has been doing rounds on the internet which claims that the Government of India will monitor WhatsApp chats and will also take action against people. If you too have received the message, then be warned. The message is fake. A fact check of the message done by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check found the message to be untrue.
The message in question also says that the government has issued guidelines for the same. In its tweet, PIB Fact Check clarifies that no such guideline has been released.
“A message circulating on social media claims the Government of India has released a new #WhatsApp guideline to monitor chats and take action against people #PIBFactCheck : This message is #FAKE; The Government has released no such guideline,” the tweet states.
At present, WhatsApp shows a single tick for a message sent, a double tick for a message delivered and a Blue double tick for message read. The last is optional and can be turned off if the user wants.
Interestingly, the fake circulation links the number of ticks for a message to some random actions. For example- a three Blue tick for a WhatsApp message, it says, will mean that the government has taken note of your message. If the number of ticks is 2 Blue and 1 Red, it would mean that the government can take action against you. While one Blue tick and two Red ticks will suggest that the government is screening your data. And the three Red ticks will denote that the government has initiated action and you will receive a summon from the court. Do note that this is all fake, false, untrue and highly laughable. Do not fall for such messages. Also, Meta-owned WhatsApp claims that the messages are end-to-end encrypted and can not be read by others, even WhatsApp.
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