WhatsApp Threatens to Leave India over Encryption Rules | Vantage with Palki Sharma

[Music] will WhatsApp leave India it might sound unimaginable to you after all WhatsApp is everywhere more than 400 million Indians use it every month we conduct business over WhatsApp speak to family and friends plan meetings and trips so life without WhatsApp may sound impossible but a new case could change all of that in 201 21 the government of India published new it rules every social media company has to follow these rules but one provision is being challenged WhatsApp has taken the matter to the Delhi High Court it was their lawyer who issued this warning he said in court that WhatsApp could leave India so what exactly is this provision in the it rules and why is it so controversial the it rules talk about the first originator of information say there's a piece of fake news or a hate message on WhatsApp under the it rules of India WhatsApp must Trace where this message came from who drafted it first and this person or account is called the first originator now who can force WhatsApp to do this any court or competent Authority the idea is to ensure that fake news does not cause trouble that the real culprits are traced and punished but WhatsApp has flagged an issue the messages you send on WhatsApp are encrypted so only two people can read them the sender and the receiver not even WhatsApp knows what you have sent so the company says we cannot follow these it rules to find the originator we must break encryption and breaking encryption equals breaking privacy at least that's what WhatsApp is saying what about the government of India in the past the it Ministry has rejected this argument they say the likes of WhatsApp already mind user data so they cannot claim to be guardians of privacy it's a fair point but the question is will the court agree similar petitions have been filed across the country all of them have been clubbed together at the Delhi High Court they will start hearing the case in the month of August now this is a very complicated issue on the one hand you have the right to privacy the Supreme Court has said it's a fundamental right on the other you have National interest what if fake news affects public order what if it leads to social unrest what if it targets children surely there must be accountability courts have said that fundamental rights are not absolute there must be reasonable curbs the question is do the it rules satisfy that yard stick or does the risk outweigh the benefit that's one qu that's one question the courts must consider secondly do other countries do something like this the judge put this question to whatsapp's lawyer he said there is no such rule anywhere else in the world some countries did try like the FBI in the United States they asked Apple to unlock iPhones belonging to suspects but Apple denied it led to a huge legal showdown in the US so India's rules are one of a kind which is why it was always going to be a very consequential lawsuit and WhatsApp has just raised the stakes let me quote from what their lawyer said this is the WhatsApp lawyer he said as a platform we saying if we are told to break encryption then WhatsApp goes we will have to keep a complete chain of messages and we don't know which ones will be asked to be to be decrypted it means millions and millions of messages will have to be stored for a number of years so WhatsApp is building a strong case and they're looking to fight this out the question is what happens next let's assume that the court sides with the government of India it says WhatsApp must break encryption then the company has two choices one it can comply with the order but chances are it will open the floodgates countries across the world will then draft similar laws and they too will ask WhatsApp to break encryption and if and if it's WhatsApp today it could be apple and others next which brings us to the second choice for WhatsApp the choice to leave India but will WhatsApp really abandon its biggest Market they make around 1 billion dollars from India can the company just walk away from that like I said the stakes are pretty high in this case courts and governments around the world will be watching this

Channel: Firstpost

Views: 298,090

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Id: -DpWrfOUC0E

Length: 4min 55sec (295 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 26 2024