WhatsApp Or Meta Has Not Informed...: Union IT Minister On WhatsApp Shutdown Plans In India
Union IT Minister while responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha said that WhatsApp or Meta has not informed the Centre about any shutdown plans.
The Indian Government had instructed WhatsApp earlier 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. This in simpler words meant that WhatsApp would have to break its end-to-end encryption policy. Back in April, WhatsApp presented a clear stance before the Delhi High Court that it would end its operations in India if it were compelled to break its end-to-end encryption policy. Recently, a question was put forth to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in Rajya Sabha in which Congress leader Vivek Tankha asked whether WhatsApp was planning to shut its services in India due to the government's directives or not.
The Union IT Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, while responding to this question said that WhatsApp and its parent company Meta have not informed the Centre about any plan to shut down its services in India. Vaishnaw in a written reply wrote, “[The] Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has shared that WhatsApp or Meta has not informed the government about any such plans,” reported news agency PTI.
While defending the Centre's stance on the matter, Vaishnaw said that the government issued directions 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 or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognisable offence relating to above in respect of the information on a computer resource.
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WhatsApp Opposes Govt Directives
Earlier, WhatsApp contested the revised IT Rules, arguing that they infringe on privacy rights and are unconstitutional. The company informed the Delhi High Court that its end-to-end encryption safeguards user privacy by ensuring that only the sender and recipient have access to the content of messages.
Tejas Karia, an advocate for WhatsApp told the Division Bench, “As a platform, we are saying, if we are told to break encryption, then WhatsApp goes.” He added that people use WhatsApp due to the privacy features that the platform offers.
With over 400 million users, India represents the largest market for WhatsApp.
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