WhatsApp threatens to leave India over encryption dispute

WhatsApp has issued an ultimatum to the Delhi High Court, asserting that it would cease operations in India if compelled to breach message encryption protocol mandated by India's 2021 Information Technology Rules, as per various media reports.

The Meta-owned company's lawyer told the court, “As a platform, we are saying, if we are told to break encryption, then WhatsApp goes," the Hindustan Times reported.

The latest development comes amid a legal tussle between WhatsApp, its parent company Meta, and Indian authorities over the contentious provision requiring social media platforms to disclose the first originator of messages, as per a Scroll report.

The legal dispute, centered around rule 4(2) of the 2021 Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, has WhatsApp and Meta challenging the regulation on grounds of violating users' fundamental rights under articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Indian Constitution, the report added.

“People use WhatsApp only because of its encryption,” WhatsApp's lawyer told the court, according to an Indian Express report. “Now by implementing this rule, we will have to break the encryption. Otherwise, it won’t be possible to trace the originator. Billions and billions of messages may have to be stored for ‘n’ number of years, because there is no limit here.”

With millions of WhatsApp users in India, WhatsApp's threat to withdraw from the market underscores the severity of the encryption dispute.

“There are two rights: one is privacy and at the same time, the government has a right to know for instance, if a terrorist is sending a message, he has to be caught,” WhatsApp told the court, reported Indian Express. “We are caught in between. Whether I should break my platform for one of the instances or for billions of instances. Is it proportionate? That has to be considered.”

Delhi High Court has scheduled further deliberations on the matter on 14 August