Breaking WhatsApp encryption will kill it, HC told

Messaging application WhatsApp on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that the company would leave India if it was compelled to break encryption of messages and calls under the 2021 Information Technology Rules, reported the Hindustan Times.

The High Court was hearing a plea by WhatsApp and its parent company Meta challenging a provision of the Information Technology Rules for social media companies, requiring them to identify the first originator of information.

The plea challenges Rule 4(2) of the 2021 Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules which requires significant social media companies to enable the “identification of the first originator of the information”.