Know what WhatsApp has to say about suing Centre against new IT Rules

WhatsApp on Wednesday moved the Delhi High Court against the Indian government's IT Rules that would require the messaging app to "trace" the origin of particular messages sent on the service.

To a WION question asking the WhatsApp spokesperson on it suing the Government in Delhi High Court, the spokesperson said, “Requiring messaging apps to “trace” chats is the equivalent of asking us to keep a fingerprint of every single message sent on WhatsApp, which would break end-to-end encryption and fundamentally undermines people’s right to privacy. We have consistently joined civil society and experts around the world in opposing requirements that would violate the privacy of our users. In the meantime, we will also continue to engage with the Government of India on practical solutions aimed at keeping people safe, including responding to valid legal requests for the information available to us.”

The new guidelines issued by the Government of India mandated a grievance redressal system for over the top (OTT) and digital portals in the country.

Briefing the media about the new rules on February 25, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said that though the government welcomes criticism and the right to dissent, "but it is very important for the users of social media to have a forum to raise their grievance against the misuse of social media.