Fact Check: Three red ticks on WhatsApp means government has started court proceedings against you

A new fake message is getting circulated saying that once the new communication rules are implemented, the three red ticks will mean that the government has started court proceedings against you.

"Two blue ticks and one red tick means the government can take action against, while three red ticks will mean that the government has started court proceedings against you." This new message is getting circulated on WhatsApp, although we should note that all claims made in this viral message are false. A similar message from three red ticks had gone viral last year and debunked the previous year.

The Press Information Bureau had refuted this WhatsApp surveillance claim back in April 2020. However, several media reports talk about the government's attempts to set up a social media communications hub to monitor online data.

The message claims that WhatsApp has introduced new communication rules and is being shared when this app has gone to court over the Indian government's new IT rules, including a traceability clause. While traceability rules are challenged, users should keep in mind that WhatsApp remains private and end-to-end encrypted, meaning that no third party, whether Facebook or WhatsApp or even the government, can read your messages.

The viral message, tagged "forwarded many times," says that once the new rules are implemented, all calls will be recorded, and social media accounts will also be monitored. In addition, it says that if a user shares a negative message against the government or on a religious topic, he will be arrested without a warrant. But, again, all claims made are false, and users should not forward this message.

The bogus message even claims that their devices will "connect to the ministry's system." The viral message on WhatsApp also claims that the Facebook-owned company has implemented a new tick system, allowing users to find out if the government is reviewing the messages they are sending.

It is important to note that WhatsApp has not implemented any new communication rules, and there is no function such as three red or three blue marks.

Can someone access your WhatsApp messages?

The messaging app is end-to-end encrypted, so only the sender and receiver can access any message they have exchanged. WhatsApp, Facebook, or the government cannot access all of your chats, photos, videos, voice messages, documents, status updates, and calls. Only you or the person you are communicating with can verify conversations.

End-to-end encryption means that your messages are protected with a padlock, and only you and the recipient have the unique code needed to unlock and read them. You can check whether messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted by visiting a person's profile.

Next, you need to touch "Encryption". Here, you can scan the code or compare the 60-digit numbers with the recipient. If the result is similar, it means that your messages are protected.

The codes you get are unique to each chat and can be compared between people in each chat. In case you receive a notification of "security code changed" in WhatsApp, it means that your contact reinstalled WhatsApp or changed phone.