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 — a claim that has been vehemently countered by the Indian government in a lengthy statement.

WhatsApp has filed a lawsuit in Delhi High 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, Reuters reported from New Delhi.

In a statement on Wednesday, 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 Electronics and IT Ministry (Meity) will lead to a “dangerous invasion of privacy” and was “unconstitutional”, WhatsApp argued in the 224-page court filing dated May 25, 2021, which has been seen by Reuters.

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.

In a statement, the Indian 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 Indian government and tech giants, including Facebook, Google’s parent Alphabet and Twitter in one of their key global growth markets.

“The battle lines are drawn. The intersection of big tech, democratic values and government control will finally decide the fate of social media in India,” said Kaushik Moitra, a partner at Indian law firm Bharucha & Partners.

In a sign of the tension with social media companies, Indian police visited Twitter’s offices this week. The micro-blogging service had labelled posts by a spokesman for India’s dominant party and others as containing “manipulated media” after complaints that some content was fake.

India has also pressed tech companies to remove what it has described as misinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging India, and some criticism of the government’s response to the crisis, which is claiming thousands of lives daily.

WhatsApp, which counts India as its biggest market with more than 500 million users, did not comment on its court filing. The case will likely be heard in the coming days.

An Indian government source told Reuters earlier on Wednesday that WhatsApp could find a way to track originators of disinformation without breaking encryption. WhatsApp court filing shows it disagrees, saying that was not possible.

Urging the court to classify the new rule as illegal, the U.S. firm also made the argument that it was not aware of any other country that compels companies such as WhatsApp to change its systems so it can identify the originator of a message.

It said revealing an originator could put reporters investigating unpopular issues, or activists advocating for certain policies, at risk of a backlash.

“(The rule) violates the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, as it chills even lawful speech,” WhatsApp said in its filing.

Govt. Hits Back Asking for Compliance Proof & Issues A Justification: Meity, in the meanwhile, issued a letter yesterday to significant social media intermediaries, which have five million or more subscribers in India, asking them for compliance status, documents reviewed by Indianbroadcastingworld.com shows.

The details being sought by the Indian government included names of Chief Compliance Officer, nodal contact person, resident grievance officer, the said employees’ contact details in India, and the compliance status of rules, which came into effect yesterday having being announced February 25, 2021.

Pointing out that Right to Privacy was a fundamental right, an official statement said, the government was committed to ensure the same to its citizens.

Meity and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad stated “the Government of India is committed to ensure the Right of Privacy to all its citizens but at the same time it is also the responsibility of the government to maintain law and order and ensure national security.”

The Minister added that “none of the 
measures proposed by India will impact the normal functioning of WhatsApp in any manner whatsoever and for the common users, there will be no impact”

The detailed government justification of the new IT rules and counter arguments to WhatsApp’s claims in the petition can be read here: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1721915.