Whatsapp Sues Indian Government Over New Media Rules, Says New Rules Mean End to Privacy:

The Indian government's new IT guidelines take effect today, yet big digital firms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp have yet to adopt them, leading some to speculate that the services could be banned in India shortly.

While reports now suggest that Facebook and Twitter will be accepting the new rules, WhatsApp apparently has filed a legal complaint against the Indian government seeking to block the regulations that come into force from May 26th i.e today. These regulations would require that Facebook and its companies break privacy protections, as per sources. According to Reuters citing people familiar with the matter, the WhatsApp lawsuit asks the High Court to label the new rules as a violation of privacy rights in India’s constitution considering that it needs social media companies to identify the “first originator of information” when officials demand it.

The rule in question requires social media sites to identify the first source of information if authorities demand it. This is a problem because the only way WhatsApp can successfully follow this regulation is for all of its users to violate the end-to-end encryption built into the service.

A WhatsApp official was cited as saying to BGR India in a statement “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.” Further, the spokesperson added, “We have consistently joined civil society and experts around the world in opposing requirements that would violate the privacy of our users.”

Apart from the unidentified sources who talked with Reuters, there is currently no confirmation of WhatsApp's complaint being filed in the Delhi High Court. The Indian government, on the other hand, has been on a warpath against social media services, raiding Twitter's offices in India recently. As a result, it appears that WhatsApp will take the Indian government to court and contest the new media rules. It's not clear when the court will hear the case, as well as the decision because it could have far-reaching implications for India's internet services and consumer privacy.

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