WhatsApp
India’s government exceeded its legal powers by enacting rules that companies such as WhatsApp say will force them to break end-to-end message encryption, the messaging app owned by Facebook argued in a court filing.
WhatsApp has filed a lawsuit in a Delhi court against the government to quash a provision of a new regulation that mandates companies to divulge the “first originator of information”, arguing in favour of protecting privacy.
In a statement yesterday, WhatsApp said it would engage with the Indian government to find “practical solutions” and protect users, but its court filing shows it has taken a firmer stance against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration.
The rule drafted by Modi’s IT ministry will lead to a “dangerous invasion of privacy” and was “unconstitutional”, WhatsApp argued in the 224-page court filing dated May 25 and which is not yet public.
WhatsApp said the government’s new regulation exceeds the scope of its rule-making powers under Indian law, adding that it was a well-settled point that only parliament, not the federal government, could undertake essential legislative functions.
“To satisfy the legality requirement, there must be a valid law allowing for the invasion of privacy,” said WhatsApp’s petition, which was signed by its counsel Brian Hennessy.
In a statement, Modi’s government said the rules were as per the law of the land and WhatsApp’s filing was “unfortunate”.
The WhatsApp lawsuit escalates a growing struggle between Modi’s government and tech giants including Facebook, Google’s parent Alphabet and Twitter in one of their key global growth markets.
