A message claiming that the Indian government is spying on its citizens by reading their WhatsApp chats went viral recently. However, the fact-checking body PIBFactCheck has clarified that the government is doing no such thing.
The message states that the Indian government has issued a new guideline that allows it to read people’s private messages on WhatsApp, which violates their privacy and could even lead to people being punished.
Claim: 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 pic.twitter.com/QfinjvOEtu
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) July 30, 2023
In reply, to clear things, the PIBFactCheck has said that the message is indeed fake, and that the “Government has released no such guideline.”
The miscreants behind the false message even added bogus WhatsApp indicators, which falsely claimed that receiving two blue ticks and one red tick as a read receipt would make you susceptible to action by the Indian government, and similarly, if you receive three red ticks, that means the Indian government has taken action against you and you will be summoned to court. However, as expected, no such thing exists, and these are false claims made by the miscreants.
For those who are not aware, WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption to its users, which means that not even WhatsApp can see the messages that users send, let alone the government.
Additionally, it has been known for some time that WhatsApp only uses either grey or blue ticks to indicate the status of a message. Two blue ticks indicate that the recipient has read your message, two grey ticks indicate that it has been delivered but not read, and a single grey tick indicates that the recipient has not yet received the message but has been sent from your end.
Fake WhatsApp forwards have been a problem for both the platform and its users for a long time. In recent times, fake forwards about things like COVID vaccines and deepfake messages to mislead people have become increasingly common. It is always advisable to be aware of this and to always verify information with reliable sources before forwarding a message or believing it yourself.
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