NEW DELHI: Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp LLC told Delhi HC on Thursday that it can’t function if forced to break encryption, as required under the Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Any mandate to store messages will require the platform to keep “millions and millions” of these, the platform’s counsel said, adding that if the rules don’t change, “WhatsApp goes”.
When the bench of acting chief justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet P S Arora wanted to know if the issue had been considered in any other country, the counsel said, “There is no such rule anywhere else in the world. Not even in Brazil.” He argued that the stipulation in the IT rules was introduced without consultation with stakeholders and violated users’ privacy.
The Centre defended the rule, saying it was crucial to identify the origin of objectionable content spread across platforms.
Any mandate to store messages will require the platform to keep “millions and millions” of these, the platform’s counsel said, adding that if the rules don’t change, “WhatsApp goes”.
When the bench of acting chief justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet P S Arora wanted to know if the issue had been considered in any other country, the counsel said, “There is no such rule anywhere else in the world. Not even in Brazil.” He argued that the stipulation in the IT rules was introduced without consultation with stakeholders and violated users’ privacy.
The Centre defended the rule, saying it was crucial to identify the origin of objectionable content spread across platforms.