Ministry Monitoring Citizen Communication, Phone & Social Media: Fact Check

Story:

Ministry of Interior Regulation

From tomorrow onwards there are new communication regulations.
All calls are recorded
All phone call recordings saved
WhatsApp is monitored
Twitter is monitored
Facebook is monitored
All social media and forums are monitored

Inform those who do not know.
Your devices are connected to ministry systems.
Take care not to send unnecessary messages.
Inform your children about this and to take care.

Other Versions

From tomorrow onwards there are new communication regulations.
उद्यापासून संभाषणासाठी नवीन नियम लागू होत आहेत.
All calls are recorded
सर्व तोंडी संभाषण रेकॉर्ड केले जाईल.
All phone call recordings saved
सर्व फोनवरचे संभाषण रेकॉर्ड केले जाईल.
WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, All social media and forums will be monitored
व्हॅट्सऍप. ट्विटर, फेसबुकवर, सर्व सोशिअल मीडिया आणि फॉर्म्स वर लक्ष ठेवले जाईल.
Inform those who do not know.
सर्वांना याबाबत कळवा.
Your devices are connected to ministry systems.
तुमचे डिव्हाईस (फोन, मोबाईल, लॅपटॉप, कॉम्पुटर) मिनिस्ट्री शी जोडले आहेत.

Take care not to send unnecessary messages
अनावश्यक मेसेजेस न पाठवण्याची काळजी घ्या.
Inform your children, Relatives and friends about this to take care
आपल्या मुलांना, नातेवाईकांना, मित्रांना याबाबत काळजी घेण्याची सूचना करा.
Don’t forward any posts or videos etc., you receive regarding politics/present situation about Government/PM etc. Writing or forwarding any msg on any political & religious debate is an offence now…. arrest without warrant…
राजकारण, शासन, मंत्रीवर्ग, प्रधानमंत्री, राष्ट्रपती, किंवा सद्यस्थिती बाबतची कोणतीही पोस्ट, ऑडिओ, व्हिडीओ फॉरवर्ड / पोस्ट करू नका. कोणत्याही अशो पोस्ट, चर्चा हा गुन्हा आहे आणि त्यासाठी अजामीन पकड वॉरंट सांगितले आहे.
Police have put out a notification termed ..Cyber Crime … and action will be taken…just don’t delete …
पोलिसांनी याबाबत सूचना सायबर सेलला योग्य त्या कारवाईसाठी सूचना दिल्या आहेत. हि सूचना त्यातलीच एक आहे.

This is very serious, plz let it be known to all our groups and individual members as group admin can b in deep trouble.
हे खूप गंभीर आहे, सर्व ग्रुप्स, वैयक्तिक मित्रांना आणि ग्रुपच्या ऍडमिनला यातून भयंकर त्रास होऊ शकतो.
Take care not to send unnecessary messages. Inform everyone about this and also take care.
त्यासाठी योग्य ती सारी काळजी घ्यावी.
Please share it; it’s very much true. Groups please be careful.
पुनः विनंती सर्वांना, ग्रुपला याबाबत कळवा.

Fact Check:

A message viral on social media platforms, particularly WhatsApp, mentions a warning about Interior Regulation Ministry Monitoring Citizen Communication on Phone and Social Media. It claims new communication regulations will monitor and record all phone calls and social media activity of citizens in India. Further, it says the ministry systems connect to all devices and warns people, especially children, not to post unnecessary messages on social media. The messages appeared online in several variants and garnered importance after the terrorist attack in Pulwama. However, you need not worry, the messages warning about ministry monitoring citizen communication are not true.

Ministry Monitoring Citizen Communication?

Firstly, the messages are not coming from any authentic source. Second, as mentioned in the message, India does not have an entity called Ministry of Interior Regulation. UAE has the Ministry of Interior, and in fact, these messages circulated online earlier with references to other countries like UAE and Ghana. As a result, in 2017, the Ministry of Interior in UAE clarified the messages warning about the ministry monitoring citizen communication are fake.

As of this writing, no government or media in India reported about such regulation to monitor and record all citizens’ phone calls and social media activity. Moreover, like mentioned in certain messages, Cyber Crime Police did not issue such notification warning of arrests. On the other hand, India is a democratic country that allows fundamental rights to its citizens like freedom of expression along with right to privacy. In legal circumstances and other situations pertaining to security, certain authorities can in fact invade the privacy of its citizens. But that does not mean they shall monitor and record all communication of its citizens. Moreover, WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption as security feature and intrusion is not easy for anyone else.

So, all this concludes to saying the messages warning about Interior Regulation Ministry monitoring citizen communication are just rumors. The old messages probably appeared again to hint the importance of social responsibility of citizens during sensitive situations like terror attacks, religious fights or political battles.