The popular messaging platform WhatsApp filed a lawsuit against India's government Wednesday over privacy concerns—and if the company don't suceed in its case, it could mean the loss of over 500 million users from the Indian market.
WhatsApp's lawsuit filed in Delhi High Court asserts that the Indian government's new rules that seek to make messages traceable to external parties are unconstitutional and follows India's February announcement of regulations for technology companies. The app currently uses end-to-end encryption so that only the sender and receiver of messages can read what each other sends.
"Civil society and technical experts around the world have consistently argued that a requirement to "trace" private messages would break end-to-end encryption and lead to real abuse. WhatsApp is committed to protecting the privacy of people's personal messages and we will continue to do all we can within the laws of India to do so," the platform said in a statement.
There is a possibility for WhatsApp to lose millions of users or redesign its app to make messages traceable if they lose the case against the Indian government, according to the Associated Press.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below:
WhatsApp is arguing that the government rules regarding the traceability of messages undermine the fundamental right to privacy.
India's sweeping regulations for technology companies hold them more accountable for content shared on their platforms. A 90-day grace period for complying with the rules ended Wednesday.
The new regulations require internet platforms like Facebook and Twitter to erase content authorities deem to be unlawful and to help with police investigations, including identifying the originators of so-called "mischievous information."
The lawsuit is part of a struggle between some of the world's biggest technology companies and governments grappling with disinformation, hate speech and other troubles.
Singapore in 2019 passed a law requiring technology platforms to issue corrections of false information if the authorities order them to do so, or face hefty fines. In Britain, tech companies could also face heavy fines if they fail to prevent the spread of illegal and harmful content, such as terrorism or child pornography.
Nikhil Pahwa, a New Delhi-based digital rights activist, said the WhatsApp lawsuit is an important case for India and the world.
"What happens in India is what governments across the world would see and like to implement," Pahwa said.
If WhatsApp loses its case, it either may choose to leave the market and lose over 500 million users, or redesign its platform to make messages traceable, he said.
"The introduction of the new IT rules can essentially kill the entire idea of end-to-end encryption in India. This will potentially compromise all its users across and not just India," he said.
WhatsApp said in a statement posted on its website that traceability breaks end-to-end encryption and would "severely undermine the privacy of billions of people who communicate digitally."
"Through such an approach, innocent people could get caught up in investigations, or even go to jail, for sharing content that later becomes problematic in the eyes of a government, even if they did not mean any harm by sharing it in the first place," WhatsApp said.
It reiterated that its team responds to valid law enforcement requests, providing them with limited categories of information available that is consistent with relevant laws and policies.
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