WhatsApp may stop providing service in India. The instant messaging platform told the Delhi High Court that if it is forced to break the messages encryption, it will leave India.

Meta’s two big platforms WhatsApp and Facebook had filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the new amended IT rules, which was transferred to Delhi HC last month by the Supreme Court.

The company told the court that the new rules could put the user’s privacy at risk. The case is being heard by a bench of Delhi High Court Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora.

Delhi High Court said – find a middle way

Advocate Tejas Karia was arguing on behalf of WhatsApp and Kirtiman Singh on behalf of the government. After a brief debate between the two sides, the High Court asked to find a middle way. The next hearing of the case will be on August 14.

3 big points of WhatsApp’s lawyer in court

  • IT Rules 2021 undermines the privacy of users with encryption. It also violates fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Indian Constitution.
  • There is no such rule anywhere else in the world, not even in Brazil. This rule is against the privacy of users and the rule was introduced without any consultation.
  • We have to keep a whole chain and we do not know which messages the government can ask for. This means that crores of messages will have to be stored for years.

What is end-to-end encryption?

End-to-end encryption is a communication system in which no one other than the sender and receiver of the message is involved. Even the company cannot see the messages of users in end-to-end encryption.

This is how WhatsApp encrypts messages

For encryption, WhatsApp converts your messages/data into complex computer code. Only someone who has the correct access key can decrypt this message. Even the company does not have this access key.

The primary source of the message will have to be disclosed in the new rules

Social media platforms have challenged the new amended rules of Information Technology (IT) 2021. Under these rules, WhatsApp will have to trace the chat as well as find out from where and to whom the message was sent for the first time.

Government said – the company does not protect privacy

Earlier, the central government had told the Delhi High Court that WhatsApp and Facebook sell users’ data for business or commercial purposes. Therefore, legally the company cannot claim that it protects privacy.

The government said 4 big things in the case

  • Advocate Kirtiman Singh said that the idea behind this guideline was to trace the source of the message. Anyway, there must be a mechanism to trace the message according to the time.
  • The government said that WhatsApp does not give users in India the right to any dispute resolution within the country, This is a violation of their fundamental rights.
  • If the IT Rules 2021 are not implemented, agencies will have difficulty in tracing the source of fake messages. Such messages will spread to other platforms, which may spoil peace and harmony in the society.
  • The Internet should be open, safe and trusted and the platform should be accountable to the users. No one can be allowed to take away the fundamental rights of Indian citizens.