A post is widely shared on social media claiming that according to the new communication rules, the government will record all normal and WhatsApp calls, and monitor social media platforms, etc., amongst other things.
The post also mentions that WhatsApp has rolled out a third Blue tick to indicate that a government representative has read your chats.
The post reads (Translated from Hindi): New communication rules for WhatsApp and phone calls will be implemented from tomorrow:- 01. All calls will be recorded. 02. All call recordings will be saved. 03. WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and all social media will be monitored. 04. Inform all who don’t know. 05. Your equipment will connect to the ministry system. 06. Be careful not to send the wrong messages to anyone. 07. Tell your children, relatives, friends, and acquaintances that you take care of them and run less social sites. 08. Any post or video of yours in front of the government or Prime Minister on politics or contemporary matters… etc. Do not send 09. Currently writing or sending messages on any political or religious topic is a crime… Doing this can be arrested without a warrant. 10. Police will issue a notification… Cybercrime after this… Action will be after this, this is very serious. 11. Please all of you, group members, admins,… Please consider this matter. 12. Be careful not to send wrong messages and inform everyone and be careful. 13. Please share this. Groups should be more aware and alert.
Info ✔on WhatsApp
1. ✔= Message has been sent
2. ✔✔= The message has arrived
3. Two blue ✔✔= message read
4. Three blue ✔✔✔=govt notes message
5. Two blue and one red ✔✔✔= government can take action against you
6. One blue and two red = government checking your information
7. Three red ✔✔✔= Government has started action against you and soon you will get court summons.
Be a responsible citizen and share with your friends. Important send to the next group as soon as possible.
Here’s the link to the above post.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the post, and found it to be false.
The NM team ran a keyword search, but could not find any media report or press release to corroborate the viral claim. The Press Information Bureau has also debunked both the claims on their official Twitter account, clarifying that the message in circulation is fake and that no such ‘new communication rules’ are being implemented. The tweets can be seen here and here.
WhatsApp Policy
The FAQ section on the WhatsApp help centre also shows two blue ticks next to a message after it has been read by the recipient. And no ‘third tick’ has been introduced. As per the official website:
indicates that the message was successfully sent.
indicates that the message was successfully delivered to the recipient’s phone or any of their linked devices.
The recipient has read your message.
The site also mentions that personal and business messages on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted, i.e., only you and the person you’re communicating with can read or listen to what is sent.
The site has informed that ‘WhatsApp cannot and does not produce the content of its user’s messages in response to government requests’.
Thus, from the above information, it is clear that the viral message is fake.
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