Fact Check: Will WhatsApp be shut from 11:30 pm to 6 am daily, become chargeable?

A message claiming that the instant messaging app ‘WhatsApp’ will be unavailable for use every day between 11:30 pm and 6 am has been doing rounds on social media. The message also warns people to become “active” WhatsApp users by forwarding the news to their contacts or else their accounts will be invalid within next 48 hours. In case an account is “deleted”, a user would need to pay a monthly bill of Rs 499 to reuse the services, claims the message.

The message further adds that once the user become an 'active' WhatsApp user (by chatting with at least 50 people), they will get access to a new version of the app which has a blue logo and in case a user’s WhatsApp does not turn blue, the application will be chargeable 0.01€ per message.

Here is the full text of the message:

What’s app will b off from 11.30pm to 6:00 am daily. Declared by central govt. Message from narendra modi (PM) we have had an over usage of user names on whatsapp Messenger. We are requesting all users to forward this message to their entire contact list. If you do not forward this message, we will take it as your account is invalid and it will be deleted within the next 48 hours. DO NOT ignore my words or whatsapp will no longer recognise your activation. If you wish to re-activate your account after it has been deleted, a charge of 499.00 will be added to your monthly bill. We are also aware of the issue involving the pictures updates not showing. We are working diligently at fixing this problem and it will be up and running as soon as possible. Thank you for your cooperation from the modi team. WhatsApp is going to cost you money soon. The only way that it will stay free is if you are a frequent user i.e. you have at least 50 people you are chatting with. To become a frequent user send this message to 10 people who receive it (2 ticks) and your WhatsApp logo will change color. Send this to 8 people to activate the new whatsapp. Saturday morning whatsapp will become chargeable. If you have at least 10 contacts send them this message. In this way we will see that you are an avid user and your logo will become blue (🔵) and will remain free. (As discussed in the paper today. Whatsapp will cost 0.01€ per message. Send this message to 10 people. When you do the light will turn blue otherwise whatsapp will activate billing. ITS TRUE …… U get blue TICKS

FACT:

In a conversation with Alt News, a spokesperson of WhatsApp termed the viral message a “known hoax”. It’s a known fact that any change in the policies by WhatsApp are being announced on its blog and till now there has been no such warning was issued by the company. Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, were down for approximately 9-10 hours on July 3 following which the rumours started spreading. Facebook, however, tweeted in the early hours of July 4 that the issue has been resolved.

Earlier today, some people and businesses experienced trouble uploading or sending images, videos and other files on our apps and platforms. The issue has since been resolved and we should be back at 100% for everyone. We're sorry for any inconvenience.

— Facebook (@facebook) July 4, 2019