A software engineer from Idukki on Wednesday approached the Kerala High Court seeking a directive to the Central Government to ban the operations of WhatsApp if the company is not willing to co-operate with the lawful authorities in India. KG Omanakuttan, Kumali, Idukki, submitted that WhatsApp has moved the Delhi High Court against India's new IT Rules that require instant messaging platforms to aid in identifying the 'originator' of messages.
The company claimed that the rules violate the privacy of citizens. The petitioner pointed out that the app itself violates the privacy of its users and cannot blame the law of this land. The petitioner argued that fake information in the form of text, image and video are widely being spread and circulated during political issues. Character assassination of many prominent personalities of all the political parties was done using such messages.
This app is being used by anti-nationals to pass their messages and information. Criminal activities such as threatening, honey trap, fake visa, admission and job placement are a few instances of misuse of the app. However, the authorities are finding it hard to trace the source of unlawful activities as there are no laws in India that would insist them to share the source.
The company has never cooperated with the authorities saying that the platform is end-to-end encrypted, even in cases which involve the security of the nation. The petitioner argued that no one is above the law. The app should abide by the laws of this country so as to function here. If it is not willing to change its technology and not cooperating with the government, it should not be permitted to operate.
The Centre has banned many websites and mobile apps for being against the interest of the country. The petitioner also sought a directive to the Centre to ask WhatsApp to comply with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021. The court will consider the petition on Monday.
