Social media platform WhatsApp has refused to remove encryption in the Delhi High Court and has clearly said that if it is asked to remove encryption, it will leave India. WhatsApp has told the Delhi High Court that it will effectively be shut down in India if it is forced to break message encryption. WhatsApp, the company that owns Meta, said it protects users’ privacy by ensuring end-to-end encryption. Through this, it is ensured that only the sender and the recipient can know the content inside.
Meta is challenging IT rules
Actually, Meta’s company WhatsApp has challenged the IT Rules 2021. The special thing is that in India, instant messaging app WhatsApp has 400 million i.e. more than 40 crore users. Which makes it the biggest market for this platform.
According to the Times of India report, lawyer Tejas Karia, appearing in the court on behalf of WhatsApp, told the division bench, ‘As a platform, we are saying that if we are asked to break the encryption, then WhatsApp will go. . Karia said that people use WhatsApp only because of its privacy features, which the company has provided.
What is end-to-end encryption?
End-to-end encryption is a communication system in which no one is involved except the sender of the message and the recipient of the message. Even the company cannot see users’ messages in end-to-end encryption. The company said in the court that user privacy may be in danger due to the new rules. The government did not even consult the platform for this.
What argument did WhatsApp give?
According to the report, WhatsApp’s lawyer Karia said, “There is no such rule anywhere else in the world.” Not even in Brazil. We have to keep the entire chain and we don’t know which messages will be asked to decrypt.” This means that millions upon millions of messages will have to be stored for many years. WhatsApp has argued that these rules weaken encryption as well as the privacy of users. It also violates the fundamental rights of users guaranteed under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
However, Kirtiman Singh, appearing for the Central government, defended the rules and stressed the need to trace the senders of the messages. Kirtiman Singh argued that such a system is necessary in today’s environment. After this, Delhi High Court listed the petitions of WhatsApp and Meta for hearing on August 14. The bench said that the rights to privacy are not absolute and a balance has to be struck somewhere.
What did Mark Zuckerberg say about India?
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, while virtually addressing Meta’s annual event last year, had said, “India is a country that is at the forefront… You are leading the world in how people and businesses use messaging.” Let us tell you that Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp and Facebook, has challenged the Information Technology Rules 2021, in which they have been asked to trace the chats and identify the senders of the messages. WhatsApp has said in its argument that this law weakens encryption and violates the protection of users’ privacy under the Indian Constitution.
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