Dawn International Reporter
NEW DELHI: Popular messaging platform WhatsApp has threatened to shut down its service in India after being forced to break the encryption of messages and calls.
According to media reports, during the hearing of a case in the Delhi High Court, the lawyer appointed by WhatsApp said that if we are forced by the government to give access to users’ messages and calls, we will leave India.
During the hearing, headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan, Benj inquired whether such a case has happened with the platform in any other country.
The lawyer said that there is no such law anywhere in the world, not even in a country like Brazil. If we had to, we would have to store millions of messages for many years.
WhatsApp and Meta have filed petitions challenging the Social Media Act 2021 in India, which was heard today.
The Modi government has directed major social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to comply with the norms under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Code of Ethics) Rules, 2021.
According to the government lawyer, the said rules are important to contain the spread of objectionable content on platforms in cases like communal violence.