New Delhi : Messaging platform WhatsApp has said that it will shut down its operations in India and leave the country if it is forced to break encryption. The statement came during a hearing on petitions challenging the new IT Rules of the Indian government. Meta, the company that runs WhatsApp, made the remarks through an affidavit filed in the Delhi High Court.
WhatsApp has said that it is used by people precisely because it protects privacy. Its users know that messages sent on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted.
Meta has challenged the new IT Rules of the Indian government. The new IT Rules state that it is mandatory for social media messaging companies to make provisions to trace chats and identify the person who first created a message. The IT Rules provide that social media companies will make efforts to ensure that users do not create or upload prohibited content.