The government says that since WHO nomenclature doesn't use 'Indian variant', use of the term is tantamount to spreading 'false news/misinformation' about coronavirus.
WhatsApp’s troubles over its controversial policy update are now facing the risk of legal action in India, the Facebook-owned instant messaging platform’s largest market. The policy – which was set to go into effect on May 15 and allows sharing of identifiable user data with Facebook – has again forced India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) into action.
The ministry, in a letter sent to WhatsApp, has asked the company to withdraw the proposed policy change and furnish a response to justify its stance.
Meity to Whatsapp –
Treatment of Indian users is discriminatory vis-à-vis users in Europe.
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WhatsApp LLC’s new privacy policy has drawn the ire of the Indian government, according to a TechCrunch
article by Manish Singh published on Wednesday. The previous day, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) reportedly sent a letter to the Facebook-owned messaging service instructing the company to withdraw its planned policy update.
Within seven days, WhatsApp must provide a “satisfactory response,” to MeitY’s directive, or face legal consequences, TechCrunch
reported. The news outlet remarked that the letter coincides with a MeitY Delhi High Court case against WhatsApp and an Indian antitrust investigation.
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Wednesday has directed Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp to take back its contentious new privacy policy, according to government sources quoted by ANI. According to MeitY, deferral of the privacy policy beyond May 15, 2021, does not absolve WhatsApp from respecting the values of informational privacy, data security and user choice for Indian users, sources told ANI. MeitY has reportedly given WhatsApp seven days to reply to its notice. If WhatsApp’s response isn’t deemed satisfactory, the Indian government may take legal action against the Facebook-owned company. The sources have maintained that WhatsApp meting out discriminatory treatment to Indian users compared to those in Europe is unacceptable. They have also claimed that with its new privacy policy, WhatsApp is misusing its dominant position as a messaging platform in the Indian market. India is WhatsApp’s largest market with 400 Mn use