Fake Alert: No, Govt is not giving you 'Free Internet'; hoax generated via WhatsApp University

Photo Credit: The Crazy Thinkers

A viral message is doing rounds on social media claiming that the government of India is offering free internet to more than 100 million users. This message is being widely circulated on WhatsApp, further claiming that the time period for free internet is three months.

The Press Information Bureau did a fact check and therefore debunked the said claims and said that the information that is making rounds on WhatsApp is completely false. The government has not made any such claims ever.

This is not the first time that the government needed to clarify such baseless messages. Earlier,  a viral message stated that after the implementation of the new IT rules, all your WhatsApp calls will be recorded and the government will monitor the activities apart from all your messages. 

It was also claimed in the message that WhatsApp has implemented a new tick system – two blue ticks and one red tick –which will mean that the government can take action, while three red ticks will mean that the government has started the court action respectively.

PIB Fact Check had outrightly rejected all the above claims in its fact-checked tweet and has warned the users against such messages.

Therefore, it is advisable to verify information from official releases by the government before making false and misleading claims.