WhatsApp earlier today filed a lawsuit against the Government of India, seeking to block the regulations saying that traceability of messages would break end-to-end encryption. In reply, the IT ministry said that the Government of India recognises that ‘Right to Privacy’ is a fundamental right and has no intention to violate it when WhatsApp is required to disclose the origin of a particular message.
It said that the such requirements are only in case when the message is required for prevention, investigation or punishment of very serious offences related to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign States, or public order, or of incitement to an offence relating to the above or in relation with rape, sexually explicit material or child sexual abuse material punishable with imprisonment for not less than five years.
“It is in public interest that who started the mischief leading to such crime must be detected and punished. We cannot deny as to how in cases of mob lynching and riots etc. repeated WhatsApp messages are circulated and recirculated whose content are already in public domain. Hence, the role of who originated is very important,” it added.
It said that no specific objection has been made by WhatsApp to the Government of India in writing relating to the requirement to trace the first originator in relation to serious offences after October 2018. “They have generally sought time to extend the time for enforcement of guidelines but did not make any formal reference that traceability is not possible,” said the IT ministry.
“WhatsApp’s challenge, at the very last moment, and despite having sufficient time and opportunity available during the consultation process and after the rules were enacted, to the Intermediary Guidelines is an unfortunate attempt to prevent the same from coming into effect.
Any operations being run in India are subject to the law of the land. WhatsApp’s refusal to comply with the guidelines is a clear act of defiance of a measure whose intent can certainly not be doubted,” said the statement.
The IT ministry said that WhatsApp makes every effort to refuse the enactment of the Intermediary Guidelines which are necessary to uphold law and order and curb the menace of fake news. It added that WhatsApp defends its refusal to enact the Intermediary Guidelines by carving out an exception that messages on the platform are end-to-end encrypted.
Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said:
The entire debate on whether encryption would be maintained or not is misplaced. Whether Right to Privacy is ensured through using encryption technology or some other technology is entirely the purview of the social media intermediary. The Government of India is committed to ensuring Right of Privacy to all its citizens as well as have the means and the information necessary to ensure public order and maintain national security. It is WhatsApp’s responsibility to find a technical solution, whether through encryption or otherwise, that both happen.