New Delhi, April 26: WhatsApp recently told the Delhi Court that it will withdraw its services from India over end-to-end encryption. The Meta-owned instant messaging platform has been known for providing end-to-end encrypted services for all users. Over the years, WhatsApp users have had several concerns that the platform was not secure and did not provide the stated encryption. However, the Meta-owned platform said it ensured that the chat conversation between two users remained encrypted and no third person could read or listen to the conversations in between, not even WhatsApp. 

According to the report by India Today, Meta-owned WhatsApp warned that it would exit India if the law forced it to break the end-to-end encryption. The "WhatsApp exit India" statement from was reportedly said by a lawyer representing it in the Delhi High Court. The recent warning from Meta-owned WhatsApp was given challenging the Information Technology Rules, 2021. Snapchat Users in World: Instant Messaging App Reaches 422 Million Daily Active Users Globally in First Quarter of 2024.

Why Did WhatsApp Say It Will Withdraw Its Services in India?

The report said that Tejas Karia, a lawyer representing the companies, made remarks during a hearing in the Delhi High Court over a petition filed by WhatsApp and parent company Meta (previously called Facebook) over Information Technology Rules 2021. The IT Rules 2021, for social intermediates, reportedly required WhatsApp to trace the messages and lead to original source. The 2021 Information Technology Rules required that Meta-owned WhatsApp make provisions for reaching out to the first originator of the information on the platform.

The lawyer reportedly said to the bench of Acting Chief Justices Manmohan and Pritam Singh Arora that if asked to break encryption, then "WhatsApp goes". The lawyer also said that there was no such law "anywhere in the world' including Brazil. Despite his remarks, the lawyer reportedly said that the rule could play a significant role when "objectionable content" had been spread in case of communal violence. The bench reportedly scheduled the next hearing to August 14, 2024, to transfer the petitions challenging IT Rules 2021 to it pursuant to a Supreme Court order.

The Supreme Court reportedly transferred "a batch of pleas" to the Delhi High Court ahead of other high courts in the country that also challenged the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Many petitions were reportedly pending on the matter from the high courts of Kerala, Calcutta, Karnataka, Bombay, and Madras. Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto and BB Ordered To Prove '10 Minute Delivery' Claim.

What is Information Technology Rules, 2021? 

The Centre introduced the IT Rules, 2021 - 'Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code' on February 15, 2021, requiring social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (now X) and WhatsApp to comply. The law demanded that the intermediaries that enable two or more users and let them "create, upload, disseminate, modify and access information using services" had to observe due diligence while discharging their duties. 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 26, 2024 11:25 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).