WhatsApp sues Centre, says new media rules mean end to privacy: Report
WhatsApp sues Centre, says new media rules mean end to privacy: Report
Reuters / Updated: May 26, 2021, 08:58 IST
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WhatsApp has filed a legal complaint in Delhi against the Indian government seeking to block regulations coming into force on Wednesday that experts say would compel the California-based
Facebook unit to break privacy protections, sources said.
The
lawsuit, described to Reuters by people familiar with it, 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
Adv.
Taking the user privacy war to the court over new IT rules, Facebook-owned WhatsApp on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the Indian government in the Delhi High Court, saying that user privacy is in its DNA and requiring messaging apps to “trace” chats undermines people’s right to privacy.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had asked social media platforms to abide by the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 by May 25, or face strict action.
A WhatsApp spokesperson told IANS that requiring messaging apps to “trace” chats is the equivalent of asking us to keep a fingerprint of every single message sent on WhatsApp.
WhatsApp takes Indian government to court over new social media laws
WhatsApp argues the laws would force it to break encryption and go against privacy rights in the country.
TL;DR
WhatsApp is taking the Indian government to court after the latter implemented new social media laws.
The laws could force WhatsApp and other social media platforms to break encryption to trace the origins of messages when required.
WhatsApp argues that this goes against privacy rights in India and could lead to “real abuse.”
WhatsApp and the Indian government’s recent tug-of-war has taken another turn. The Facebook-owned company has now filed a legal complaint against the Indian government in a bid to declare its new social media laws unconstitutional.