Fact Check: Can police take action against Whatsapp group admins for COVID-19 based jokes?

While people are staying at home and spending time doing random activities to keep mselves occupied, re has been a sudden surge of fake news and information being circulated on social media websites. People are sharing posts and making m viral, which includes news that is false. se can have a wrong impact on many people. A recent rumour that reached many groups on Whatsapp claimed that Government has issued an advisory against group admins and members if anyone posts a joke on coronavirus.

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Claim:

A recent Whatsapp forward that has been haunting dreams of many Whatsapp admins claims that police is ready to take action against people who post jokes on coronavirus. Whatsapp forward claims that group admins are requested to close group for 2 days as police can take action against group members and admin under sections 68, 140 and 188. mess also talks about how everyone could be in trouble.

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Rating: Fake

mess posted on Whatsapp is fake. Press Information Bureau's Twitter account for Fact-Checking posted that claim is fake. re has been advisory or order by Government that talks about this.

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legal action can be taken against group admins

Origin:

Whatsapp forward mess claims that admin needs to close group for 2 days. This might have made many wonder, "How to close a WhatsApp Group?". It is important to te that a Whatsapp group cant be temporarily closed for a few days. One can only delete group, remove somebody from group and exit group. Ar important thing to te in mess is that it claims three sections: 68, 140 and 188. While section numbers are given, re is mention of which act or article it is a part of. 

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