WhatsApp can be banned in India after new rules if it refuses to dilute privacy protection

HIGHLIGHTS

The government has notified the new IT Rules 2021.

Social media platforms need accountability against their misuse and abuse.

The government says new rules around social media platforms have a soft-touch oversight mechanism.

The government of India on Thursday announced the all-new Information Technology Rules 2021, which include intermediary guidelines and a digital media ethics code. While the new rule will take some time to come into effect, the government has put forward a firm stand to identify a message's originators. This means that platforms like WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram and others that use end-to-end encryption for messages may have to break it to comply with the government's new rule.

Announcing the new Information Technology Rules 2021, Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar and Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday pointed out that if a tweet or message has not originated in India, then the app must tell the government who in India received it first.

"We have always been clear as a company that we welcome regulations that set guidelines for addressing today’s toughest challenges on the Internet. Facebook is committed to people’s ability to freely and safely express themselves on our platforms. The details of rules like these matter, and we will carefully study the new rules that were just published. We acknowledge and appreciate the recognition from the Minister on the positive contributions of social media to the country. Facebook is an ally for India, and the agenda of user safety and security is a critical one for our platforms. We will continue to work to ensure that our platforms play an enabling role in fuelling the exciting digital transformation of India," said Facebook spokesperson responded to India Today Tech.

Notably, WhatsApp had earlier put down government requests to identify the origin of messages citing it could break end-to-end encryption.