'WhatsApp Shutdown' in India! This is what millions of Indians are wondering over the Meta company's tiff with the Union Government of India over its end-to-end encryption policy. Centre has asked WhatsApp under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, to disclose the sender of a message upon the order by a court or competent authority order. In simpler terms, WhatsApp would have to break its end-to-end encryption policy. On this WhatsApp has already approached the Delhi High Court and stated that if it will be forced to break its end-to-end encryption then it will have to shut down its operations in India. On this, Congress leader Vivek Tankha asked the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in Rajya Sabha whether WhatsApp is leaving India or not. Below is what Ashwini Vaishnaw said-
Union IT Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, while responding to this question said that WhatsApp has not informed the Centre about any plan to shut down its services in India. Vaishnaw's written reply was quoted by a newswire saying, "[The] Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has shared that WhatsApp or Meta has not informed the government about any such plans."
The answer by the Government clearly hinted that Meta is awaiting the Delhi High Court's decision and plans. Vaishnaw in the parliament defended the Government's stance over WhatsApp saying that it is in the interest of the sovereignty or integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, or public order.
What are new IT rules & what is WhatsApp's take?
Information Technology Rule 4(2) of the 2021 IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code), mandates "significant social media intermediaries" to "enable the identification of the first originator of the information" which may be required by a court order or other competent authority.
The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 were announced by the Modi government on February 25, 2021, and required large social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to comply with the latest norms.
WhatsApp through its petition has requested the Delhi High Court to declare Rule 4(2) of the intermediary rules as unconstitutional, ultra vires the IT Act, and illegal and sought that no criminal liability be imposed on it for any alleged non-compliance with Rule 4(2) which requires enabling the identification of the first originator of the information.
It is pertinent to mention here that with 400 million users using the Meta-owned app, India is the largest market of WhatsApp.