A message that did the rounds on WhatsApp stated that the company can now read your messages. This, however, is fake.

It is a fake message that someone had started as a joke some year ago. Perhaps it has resurfaced when there was the news that the government would catch whoever was spreading fake news on WhatsApp.

The forward says what the ticks that accompany WhatsApp messages mean, and how if there are more than two ticks in a message, it means the government has taken note of it. One tick means that the message has been sent, two indicates it has been delivered, two blue has been read. Till here, the message is true.

However, it goes on to say that three blue ticks means that the government has noticed that the message, two blue ticks and one red tick indicates that the government can take action, one blue tick and two red ticks indicate that the government has initiated action upon you for that message, and that three red ticks indicate that the government has already taken action and that you will receive court summons.

All of this fake, as WhatsApp only indicates when a message has been sent and delivered, and if a message has been delivered, depending on whether a person has their read receipts on.

A WhatsApp spokesperson had said that the circulated message was not true. Messages on WhatsApp are highly secure and cannot be accessed by a third person, and no message will have more than two ticks, the spokesperson had said then.