It will not be surprising if WhatsApp stops providing services in India in the near future. The company told the Delhi High Court that it would leave India if it was forced to break the encryption of messages.
In fact, the two major platforms of Meta, WhatsApp and Facebook filed a petition in the Delhi High Court against the newly amended IT rules. The company told the court that user privacy may be at risk due to the new rules.
3 Big Talks of WhatsApp's Lawyer in Court
IT Rules 2021 undermine users' privacy with encryption. It also violates the fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
There are no such rules anywhere in the world, not even in Brazil. This rule is against the privacy of users and this rule was introduced without any consultation.
We have to keep the whole chain and we don't know what messages the government might want. This means millions of messages have to be stored for years.
What is end-to-end encryption?
End-to-end encryption is a communication system in which no one is involved except the sender and receiver of the message. Even the company cannot see users' messages in end-to-end encryption.
New rules will have to show primary source of message
Social media platforms have challenged the newly revised Information Technology (IT) Rules 2021. Under these rules, along with tracing the chat, WhatsApp will also have to find out from where and to whom the message was first sent.
Govt says company doesn't protect privacy
Earlier, the central government had told the Delhi High Court that WhatsApp and Facebook monetize users' information for business or commercial purposes. Therefore, legally the company cannot claim that it protects privacy.
The government said 3 big things in this matter
The government said WhatsApp already does not give users in India the right to resolve any dispute within the country, a violation of their fundamental rights.
If the IT Rules 2021 are not implemented, agencies will face difficulty in tracing the source of fake messages. Such messages will spread to other platforms, which may disturb the peace and harmony in the society.
The Internet should be open, safe and reliable, and platforms should be accountable to users. No one can be allowed to take away the fundamental rights of Indian citizens.
.png)
0 Comments