The news regarding the government issuing a new guideline on monitoring WhatsApp chats and messages is fake, according to Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check.
The PIB Fact Check tweeted saying that the government has issued no guidelines and the message about the government issuing guidelines to keep a check on chats and take action against people is fake.
The PIB Fact Check Unit aims to investigate fake news and misinformation and provides people with an avenue to report suspicious and questionable information.
The fake message being circulated on the internet said that the government has issued new guidelines to monitor messages sent; messages delivered; messages read; the government can take action against you; the government is screening your data; and the government has initiated action and you’ll receive a summon from the court.
As per the fake message, WhatsApp users will see different coloured ticks as we see when the message is sent, delivered, and seen.
According to the fake circulated message, when a WhatsApp user sends a message, a single tick would mean that the message has been sent; two ticks would mean that the message has been delivered; two blue ticks would mean that message has been read; three blue ticks would imply that the government has taken a note of the message; two blue, and one red tick would mean that the government can take action against the user; one blue, and two red ticks would imply that the government is screening the user's data; and three red ticks would mean that the government has initiated action and the user will receive a summon from the court.