The court was hearing petitions submitted by WhatsApp and its parent company, Meta, challenging Rule 4(2) of the Information Technology Rules, 2021. Rule 4(2) says ‘significant’ social media intermediaries (those with more than five million registered users) must be able to identify the first originator of any information (text, photo, video, etc) on its platform when ordered to do so by a court or another competent authority.
WhatsApp said that complying with the rule would necessitate storing vast numbers of messages for extended periods, which no other country mandates.
It said the rule exceeded the scope of its primary law, the Information Technology Act, which does not mandate breaking encryption.
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The government argued that there must be a mechanism in place to trace the originators of communications, citing the need for accountability. The court has deferred the case to 14 August.
More to come………………………………………..
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