WhatsApp moves Delhi HC against Centre’s new social media rule, says it violates right to privacy

Messaging platform WhatsApp on Tuesday moved the Delhi High Court challenging a provision under the new social media rules introduced by the Centre, which mandates the company to identify the “first originator of information” when authorities demand it, The Indian Express reported.

In its plea, WhatsApp argued that the provision was unconstitutional and against people’s fundamental right to privacy. The plea, relying on the Supreme Court’s landmark 2017 judgement establishing privacy as a fundamental right, also sought to prevent the provision from coming into force and protection against criminal liability to WhatsApp employees for non-compliance, Bar and Bench reported.

“Requiring messaging apps 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,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said, according to the newspaper. “We have consistently joined civil society and experts around the world in opposing requirements that would violate the privacy of our users.”

Significantly, the plea was filed on the same day that marked the end of the three months’ deadline set by the Centre for complying with its new information technology rules.

A sweeping set of rules were issued on February 25 to regulate social media companies, streaming and digital news content. The new rules…

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