Have you received a WhatsApp forward that claims that the platform is to roll-out a third blue tick if government has read your chats? This message has been doing consistent rounds all over the country. But we’ll tell you, this is entirely fake news. WhatsApp isn’t rolling out a third blue tick and no, government is not reading your chats either.
This completely false message has unfortunately gone viral. Like most viral messages, this forward takes advantage of people’s natural fear of over-surveillance by a government. But rest assured. There is no such feature being implemented by WhatsApp and the news which is being spread is wrong. For those unaware, WhatsApp messages are fully encrypted. It means that no one can read your chats except the sender and receiver.
“Your messages are secured with locks, and only the recipient and you have the special keys needed to unlock and read your messages. For added protection, every message you send has a unique lock and key. All of this happens automatically: No need to turn on settings or set up special secret chats to secure your messages,” the chat platform clearly explains this in its FAQ page.
The Fake News Problem in WhatsApp
WhatsApp is no doubt the most widely used instant messaging service not only in India but also globally. The messaging platform that has almost replaced your standard text messages, however, is facing a tough time in India dealing with fake news or rumors that are making the rounds on the Internet.
Lately, WhatsApp has taken serious note of the possibility of fake news being spread on its platform and has started labeling messages that are ‘forwarded.’ The company last week announced a new feature that’s being tested in India which will limit message forwards to five chats in India at once.
