WhatsApp LLC. and its parent company Facebook Inc., now Meta, have moved the Delhi High Court, challenging the Information Technology Rules enacted in 2021 that require social media intermediaries to trace chats and make provisions to identify the first originator of information.
A Bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan has posted the case to August 14.
During the hearing, the lawyer appearing for WhatsApp noted that the instant messaging platform would exit India if encryption has to be broken.
“As a platform, we are saying, if we are told to break encryption, then WhatsApp goes,” ANI quoted the lawyer as saying.
WhatsApp is against an amendment in India’s IT Rules that requires social media intermediaries to identify the first originator of information, when required to do so.
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It argues that the requirement was against the privacy of users and the rule was introduced without any consultation.
“There is no such rule anywhere else in the world. Not even in Brazil,” the lawyer appearing for WhatsApp said, according to PTI.
On the other hand, the Central government insisted that there had to be a way for authorities to trace first originators of messages, as part of the IT Rules 2021, in order to ensure social security.
“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,” said a WhatsApp spokesperson, per ANI.
As the Meta-owned messaging service has end-to-end encryption, lifting the same for legal reasons is challenging for the company and could result in changing the user terms and privacy policies that customers depend on.
However, several legal authorities and law enforcement bodies worldwide have argued that end-to-end encryption should be broken when necessary, in order to trace the origin of crimes such as violent deepfakes, child abuse media, fake news, etc. and find those responsible for such incidents.
The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 were announced by the government on February 25, 2021 and required large social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to comply with the latest norms.
On March 22, the Supreme Court transferred to the Delhi High Court a batch of pleas pending before different high courts across the country challenging the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Several petitions were pending on the issue before different high courts, including the Karnataka, Madras, Calcutta, Kerala and Bombay high courts.
Also Read: The Bombay High Court’s concerns regarding the Centre’s Fact-Check Unit | Explained
A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court in January this year delivered a split verdict on petitions challenging the constitutionality of a 2023 amendment to the Rules that permit a “Fact Check Unit” of the Union Government to identify “fake or false or misleading” online content “related to the business of the Central Government” and demand its removal.
