DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A message is being shared on WhatsApp that claims that the messaging platform, WhatsApp, will be implementing new rules. The viral message states that the government will be monitoring WhatsApp chats from now onwards. It has been shared widely in the context of recent IT Bills which have been passed by the Indian parliament, which sought to streamline the process of social media scrutiny to avoid hate speech among others.
It reads:
“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. Tell those who don’t know.
05. Your devices will be connected to the Ministry system.
06. Be careful not to send the wrong message to anyone.
07. Tell your children, brothers, relatives, friends, acquaintances that you take care of them and rarely use social sites.
08. Don’t send any post or video of yourself to the government or the prime minister on politics or current affairs.
09. It is currently a crime to write or send a message on a political or religious topic… to do so can lead to arrest without a warrant.
10. Police will issue notification… then cybercrime… then action will be taken, it is very serious.
1 All of you, group members, administrators,… please consider this matter.
12. Be careful not to send the wrong message and tell everyone and stay on topic.
13. Please share this.Groups should be more alert and vigilant.”
Further, in bold, the following warning, which had been debunked earlier by Digiteye India.
“IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT WHATSAPP FOR GROUP MEMBERS…
Information on WhatsApp:
1. ✔ = message sent
2. ✔✔ = Message Received
3. Two blue ✔✔ = read message
4. Three Blue = Government has taken note of the message
5. Two blue and one red – Governance + Government may take action against you
6. One blue and two red = government investigating, your information
7. Yavar ✔✔✔ = The government has started proceedings against you, and you will soon receive a court summons.
Be a responsible citizen and share with your friends ..”
In the message, it is claimed that calls will be recorded. It urged people to refrain from commenting on political or religious issues on social media. The message reads, “All recordings will be saved. WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and all social media will be monitored. Your devices will be connected to the Ministry system. Be careful not to send the wrong message to anyone.”
The message also lists new WhatsApp guidelines. It states that a single tick means the message has been received. Two blue ticks mean that the message has been read. Three blue ticks mean that the government has taken note of the message Two blue and one red tick mean that the government may take action against you. One blue and two red means that the government is investigating. Three ticks mean that the government has started proceeding against you and you will receive a court summons soon.
Digiteye India received a WhatsApp request to fact check the claims in this viral message.
FACT CHECK
The Digiteye India team found this claim to be false on several reasons. WhatsApp has not implemented new rules and there is no feature of three blue ticks or a red tick on the messaging app as claimed. A single tick on a WhatsApp message means that the message has been sent. Two grey ticks mean that the message has been delivered. Two blue ticks mean that the message has been seen by the receiver.
All WhatsApp chats are end-to-end encrypted. This means that only the sender and the receiver know the contents of the message. That message cannot be accessed by anyone else, not even WhatsApp or Facebook, or the government. No chats, photos, videos, voice messages, status updates, files, and documents can be accessed by any third party without your knowledge on WhatsApp, unless a specific complaint has been made legally by the authorities.
Any changes to these would have been communicated by the messaging app but there has been no such press release nor a statement o this effect from the WhatsApp group or its parent Facebook (Meta). WhatsApp has only introduced a disappearing messages feature and a chat lock feature recently.
Additionally, PIB Fact Check has also busted this claim. They said, “This message is fake. The Government has released no such guideline.”
Claim: The Government of India has released a new #WhatsApp guideline to monitor chats and take action against people
▪️ This message is #FAKE
▪️The Government has released no such guideline pic.twitter.com/QfinjvOEtu
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) July 30, 2023
Claim: The government of India can now monitor WhatsApp chats and take action against people.
Conclusion: No, the claim is false. Neither the government nor WhatsApp has released any such guidelines.
Rating: Totally False – 
