WhatsApp Sues Indian Government Over New Media Rules

The Indian Government’s new IT Rules go into effect starting today, and major tech companies including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp are yet to accept thenew rules— something that led to people wondering if the services might be banned in India soon.

While reports now suggest that Facebook and Twitter will be accepting the new rules, WhatsApp has apparently sued the Indian Government for the same. According to areport from Reuters, the Facebook-owned messaging giant has filed a complaint with the Delhi High Court. WhatsApp says that one of the new media rules will violate user privacy on its platform.

The rule in question here is the one that requires social media companies to identify the first originator of information if demanded by the authorities. That’s an issue because the only way WhatsApp can effectively abide by this rule is bybreaking the end-to-end encryptionbaked into its service for all of its users.

In a statement given toBGR India, a WhatsApp spokesperson was quoted as saying“requiring messaging apps to “trace” chats is the equivalent of asking us to keep a fingerprint of every single message sent on WhatsApp, which would break end-to-end encryption and fundamentally undermines people’s right to privacy.”Further, the spokesperson added,“We have consistently joined civil society and experts around the world in opposing requirements that would violate the privacy of our users.”

There’s currently no confirmation of the complaint being filed byWhatsAppin the Delhi High Court, other than the unidentified sources that spoke with Reuters. However, the Indian government has been on a warpath against social media platforms and recentlyraided Twitter’s offices in India. So, it seems likely that WhatsApp will drag the Indian Government to court, and contest the new media rules. It remains to be seen when the court reviews the case, as well as the outcome since it could have massive repercussions on India’s internet services and user privacy online.

Akshay Gangwar

Greetings, tech titans and fellow literary time-travelers! I’m Akshay, your tech-whisperer and Harry Potter’s number one stalker – seriously, don’t ask me how many times I’ve read those books; it’s borderline unhealthy.

Working in the tech journalism industry since 2016, I have 7 years of experience covering everything from technology news, to well-researched resource articles. Now the Content Strategist at Beebom, I often pen down op-eds for our website, sharing expert commentary on the latest in technology, AI, and electric cars.

Add new comment

Name

Email ID

Δ

01

02

03

04

05