WhatsApp Sues India Government Over New Internet Rules
- Lawsuit is aimed at new internet rules introduced in February
- New rules mean WhatsApp may have to violate user privacy
Facebook Inc.’s messaging platform WhatsApp has filed a lawsuit challenging Indian rules that would require the company to provide access to encrypted messages, aggravating an already tense relationship between Silicon Valley giants and the government in a country where they have hundreds of millions of users.
WhatsApp filed the lawsuit in the Delhi High Court on Tuesday evening, the company confirmed. The case could come up for consideration as early as this week.
“Requiring messages to trace chats is the equivalent of asking us to keep a fingerprint of every single message sent on Whatsapp which would break end-to-end encryption and fundamentally undermines people’s right to privacy,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday. “We have consistently joined civil society and experts around the world in opposing requirements that would violate the privacy of our users.”
Whatsapp will continue to engage with the government “on practical solutions aimed at keeping people safe, including responding to valid legal requests for information,” it added in the statement.
Already facing growing regulatory scrutiny around the world, companies from Facebook to Twitter Inc. to Alphabet Inc.’s Google are in the crosshairs of India’s government, which in February introduced tightened rules governing social media, digital media and streaming operators. The regulations require the companies, called intermediaries in the rules, to have mechanisms to address user complaints, appoint compliance officers and submit monthly compliance reports.