Mandating a new form of mass surveillance : WhatsApp sues government, calls IT rules unconstitutional
The social media company said the new rules could compel it to break privacy protection.
26 May, 2021
WhatsApp has filed a legal complaint against the Indian government seeking to block regulations of the new IT rules that come into force today,
Reuters
The lawsuit asked the Delhi High Court to declare that one of the rules, which come under the the IT Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules 2021, is a violation of privacy rights in Indiaâs constitution as it asks social media companies to identify the âfirst originator of informationâ when authorities demand to know. The new rules could thus compel WhatsApp to break privacy protection.
WhatsApp files legal complaint against govt over privacy rights: Report
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WhatsApp Sues Indian Government Over Privacy Issues
Naman Ramachandran, provided by
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Popular messaging service WhatsApp is suing the Indian government over privacy issues as draconian new rules governing social media come into effect from Wednesday.
The lawsuit “asks the Delhi High Court to declare that one of the new rules is a violation of privacy rights in India’s constitution since it requires social media companies to identify the ‘first originator of information’ when authorities demand it,” according to news agency Reuters which first broke the news.
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“Civil society and technical experts around the world have consistently argued that a requirement to ‘trace’ private messages would break end-to-end encryption and lead to real abuse,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said. “WhatsApp is committed to protecting the privacy of people’s personal messages and we will continue to do all we can within the laws of India to do so.