Coronavirus COVID-19: Is the government screening your WhatsApp messages? PIB dispels rumours

The Twitter handle of PIB Fact Check on Tuesday (April 7) ‘warned’ users of rumours regarding the government spying on WhatsApp messages of several users. 

In an apparent effort to dispel the rumours, the PIB tweeted on Tuesday that WhatsApp is not showing three ticks for a message, with the third tick being that government has taken notice of a message. 

It is to be noted that a single tick is shown in front of a WhatsApp message when it is sent, two ticks when the message is received by the other person and both ticks turn Blue when the other person reads the message.

The Twitter handle also confirms that below mentioned rumours on WhatsApp are all fake:

-2 Blue + 1 Red tick (meaning government can take action against you)

-1 Blue + 2 Red ticks (meaning government is screening your data)

-3 Red ticks (meaning the government has initiated action and the sender will receive summons from court)  

#Fake News Alert !

Messages circulating on Social Media reading 'WhatsApp info regarding √ tick marks' is #FAKE.#PIBFactCheck : No! The Government is doing no such thing. The message is #FAKE.

Beware of rumours! pic.twitter.com/GAGEnbOLdY — PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) April 7, 2020

Meanwhile, WhatsApp has decided to limit the frequently forwarded messages by users to one chat at a time in order to curb the spread of misinformation related to coronavirus COVID-19. This limit will be in place once a message has been previously forwarded five times or more. The move comes at a time when several nations, including India, are initiating measures to tackle the spread of rumours and fake news related to the pandemic on social media platforms.

"We are now introducing a limit so that these messages can only be forwarded to one chat at a time...We've seen a significant increase in the amount of forwarding which users have told us can feel overwhelming and can contribute to the spread of misinformation," the Facebook-owned WhatsApp said in its blog on Tuesday.